One of the most enduring clichés about us writers is that our two natural habitats are a cabin in the woods, where we work in silence, surrounded by thousands of books, and a local bar or coffee shop. Since the latter have become places where hipsters, nerds, and urbanites gather, there are very few places where real writers can go and feel that old-time spirit that was once felt in bars visited by some of the greatest authors of all time.

Why bars? Well, aside from providing the background for some of the most iconic anecdotes in literature, those establishments were places where writers, which were often tortured souls, gathered and socialized with each other, sought inspiration, or simply drank to ease their burden, thus revealing the less romanticized side of every writer’s life.

Luckily, some of those bars are still around today, and what better way for a writer to get inspired and moved than to visit them and experience the same atmosphere as their literary role models did? The following infographic from assignment writing service contains 7 famous literary bars that should be a pilgrimage for every writer.

White Horse Tavern (New York City, USA)
Established in 1880, New York City’s White Horse Tavern is located in Manhattan, at the corner of 11th and Hudson, with the first notable patron being an English character actor, director, and screenwriter Charles Laughton. Before it was known as a center where writers gathered, it was a bar visited mostly by longshoremen. It gained its present fame in the early fifties, not just because of the talented authors and artists, but also because of the heavy drinking.

One patron which is notable on both accounts is Dylan Thomas, who beat his own drinking record right there, and had his last drink. Notable patrons also include James Baldwin, Jack Kerouac (who was thrown out on more than one occasion), Bob Dylan, Normal Mailer, Hunter S. Thompson, Jim Morrison and Michael Harrington.

Cerveceria Alemana (Madrid, Spain)
This bar, located at Plaza de Santa Ana 6, opened its doors to writers and patrons in 1904, with the most famous one being Ernest Hemingway, who liked to visit the joint during the day. For those who wish to sit at the same table as he did, it can be found in the near right-hand corner. Hemingway spoke very highly of La Alemana, noting in his recognizable style that it was “a good place to drink beer and coffee”. Other patrons include Victor de la Serna, Ramon del Valle-Inclan, and Hollywood diva Ava Gardner, who frequented the bar between 1952 and 1967.

Old Town Bar & Restaurant (New York City, USA)
If a writer should ever find himself on 45 E 18th Street in New York, he should take the time and visit the Old Town Bar & Restaurant. This is one of those rare places where the interior has a character of its own, with its heavy marble and wood, dating back to 1892. It is the place where Frank McCourt famously quipped “Love! King of New York Bars! A place where you can still talk!”. Also visited by the likes of Nick Hornby, Seamus Heaney, and Billy Collins.

The Eagle and Child (Oxford, England)
This pub, located at 49 St. Giles Street, was founded in the 17th century, and was the birthplace of the Inklings, a literary group which gathered some of the greatest minds literature and the University of Oxford has ever seen, such J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, Hugo Dyson, Norman Colin Dexter, and Charles Williams.

El Floridita (Havana, Cuba)
One can’t help but mention Ernest Hemingway in the same breath as Havana and El Floridita, which was one of his favorite bars, as is evident by numerous photographs of him hanging on the walls of the establishment. Stepping foot inside it is like going back in time to the 40s and 50s, with none of the spirit and atmosphere lost. Besides Hemingway, El Floridita patrons were Ezra Pound, and Graham Greene.

Les Deux Magots (Paris, France)
Most Parisians would say that the year 1812 is important for two things: Napoleon’s invasion of Russia, and Les Deux Magots, which was founded the same year. Back in the day, the café used to be a spot where the French intellectual and literary crème de la crème socialized, including Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Albert Camus, as well as James Joyce, Bertolt Brecht, and, of course, Ernest Hemingway.

Literary Café (Saint Petersburg, Russia)
Literary Café, founded in 1816, has more than earned the right to its name, with the likes of Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin, Nikolay Chernyshevsky, and of course, Alexander Pushkin, spending their days, and night, within the confines of its walls. It was also the last café Pushkin visited before his tragic death.

Walking in the footsteps of famous authors and sitting at the same table as they did when they were at their creative peaks can be life-altering experience for every writer, and a chance to meet other like-minded writers, and perhaps run into an author they look up to. It’s an opportunity not to be missed.

Source – AssignmentMasters.co.uk

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Linda is a professional editor, blogger and freelance writer. She is interested in techniques, which improve overall productivity and writing hacks. Follow Linda on Twitter to get inspired!

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Almost 1500 years have passed since the beginning of the Legend of King Arthur. Ancient history you say—well, actually, medieval history, and one that should matter little to young readers accustomed to instant communication and worldwide access in seconds. However, kids today—and a significant number of adults—continue to embrace the medieval world, specifically Arthurian Legend.

When I introduced my 9th grade students to T.H. White’s The Once and Future King, I realized I’d opened a treasure cave. My kids—even ones who hadn’t read a thing I assigned—scrambled to participate in discussions, projects, and outside reading!

After retiring from teaching, I taught Medieval Writing Workshops for elementary-age children. I found kids as young as 6 and 7 just as excited as the 8-12 year-olds. When I worked with the Colorado Girl Scouts on writing, I had girls (ages 9-12) showing up in princess and dame costumes!

At a Medieval Writing Workshop, these Brownies and Junior Girl Scouts donned their best in princess wear

So, how do you as a writer for children incorporate the popular Arthurian Legend/Medieval Time period in your stories? Here are some suggestions.

1. Setting: Choose a setting in the future, on another world, or in another time dimension. The actual Medieval time period as we know it doesn’t have to be used. The successful Stargate SG-1 television series (1997-2007) frequently took events and settings from history and catapulted them to another planet, even Arthurian Legend.

2. Characters: Arthurian Legend and Medieval times are packed with tales of knights fighting knights, evil kings/queens/magicians, dragons and other mythical characters. Dress characters up like some of these and even make up new creatures. Tolkien’s orcs now find new homes in many Medieval games. And don’t forget the heroes. These can be the true knight who rescues ladies in distress, comes to the aid of their king, or champions the weak and the poor. They can also be the boy or girl next door who realizes that horrible abuse is happening to the kid next door and vows to help and inform the authorities.

Even these 5 & 6 year-olds were into the Legend of King Arthur

3. Magic and Mystery: Kids and adults are fascinated by magic and the powers associated with magic. The fact that Merlin can see into the future makes the tales of Arthur even more intriguing. Think what an evil sorcerer could do with that knowledge! One look at Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings shows how popular this subject is today. Everyone loves a story with a wizard, whether good or bad.

4. Strong Women: Medieval tales written today abound with women in more active roles. Girls can be knights themselves—known as dames—coming to the rescue and going on their own adventures to save the world. Think Katniss in The Hunger Games, which can be traced back to Arthurian Legend.

These Girls are Knights, also known as Dames

5. Right vs. Wrong: The definitive line between right and wrong present in the Arthurian tales fills kids’ need for boundaries and ideals to guide them in their growth. These ideals give kids different ways to look at themselves and their world. It’s not hard to put characters from any time period in a fight for right over wrong. And, sometimes, it can even be the wrong that wins, as it does often in the Star Wars saga. Add life-threatening battles and races against time to keep readers engaged and eager to turn the pages.

For astute readers and writers, the Legend of King Arthur can be found in blockbuster books/movies like Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Harry Potter, and The Hunger Games as mentioned, as well as a host of others. And, while our audience knows that living in the Medieval times was difficult, dangerous, and not a lot of fun, they choose to view it as a time of grand adventure filled with dangerous situations that can be conquered with skill and a little magic!

From the author: For someone who supposedly isn’t real, King Arthur has been an enormous inspiration in my writing. And, while I’ve ventured into the Ancient World with my latest stories, the Legend continues to fuel my writing for young readers, especially those reluctant readers I hope to reach. Look for the second book in my Guinevere trilogy in 2016: Guinevere: At the Dawn of Legend—Cedwyn’s Story.

                

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I am a retired high school English teacher. A devourer of books growing up, my profession introduced me to writings and authors from times long past. Through my studies and teaching, I fell in love with the Ancient and Medieval Worlds. Now, I hope to inspire young readers and those Young-at-Heart to read more through my Quest Books set in these worlds.
You can find me on Carpinello’s Writing Pages, where I interview other children/MG/Tween/YA authors. My home is at Beyond Today Educator. At The Quest Books, I’ve teamed up with Fiona Ingram from South Africa and Wendy Leighton-Porter of England/France/Abu Dhabi to enable readers to find all of our Ancient and Medieval quest books in one place.

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BookBuzzr author Bobbie Ann Cole‘s eBook She Does Not Fear the Snow recently hit #3 spot on the Amazon in Religion & Spirituality category. We reached out to Bobbie to learn more about her.

The screenshot below was taken on November 30, 2015.

1. Hi Bobbie, thank you for joining us. Would you tell us a little about yourself?
I’m very pleased to have been invited. Thank you. I am a writer, speaker and teacher of creative writing. My main genres are memoir and investigative journalism, although I also love to write fiction. My primary topics so far have been faith and Bible-based. However, I am currently working on a book about the Irish War of Independence in 1921. This is a true story that points up the emotions and feelings of people of both sides, the “rebels” and a pair of British newlyweds, who find themselves thrown together in a remote part of Ireland.

2. Your latest book, ‘Love Triangles, Discovering Jesus the Jew in Today’s Israel’, is a sequel. Would you share a gist of your first book and how it leads up to this one?
She Does Not Fear the Snow is my coming to faith story that echoes the story of Ruth in the Bible. She came into the Land of Israel broken, declared her faith and was blessed with a new husband of faith. Following cancer, the failure of my long-term marriage and of my business, I also came into Israel broken, looking for something—some meaning and purpose. As a Jew, I never expected to find this in a church. However, reluctantly attending a church service with my Christian travelling companion changed everything for me and led to my meeting and marrying my own Boaz, Butch, from Canada.
A year after our marriage we went to live in Israel. Love Triangles is the story of the joys and challenges of living as a Jew who believes in Jesus in the Jewish homeland.

                

3. What are some of the activities that you have done to promote and market your books?
One of the things that I find works best is to focus on an event such as a free Kindle giveaway weekend. It may seem counter-intuitive to encourage book sales by giving one’s book away but this can really create quite a buzz and certainly gives you something to say on social media as your book climbs the Amazon charts. There are many sites that will help promote your giveaway to avid Kindle readers and it’s important to list with as many of these as possible. Some are free but many require a donation of $5 or more.
Another very useful tool that I intend to exploit more thoroughly going forward is guest posting. Rather than linking to the book, it is helpful to link to a free opt-in incentive and try to grow your list of followers. My incentive is called The Israel Jesus Loved, a Pictorial Guide (www.jesus-ebook.com).

4. What is the most important lesson writing has taught you, professional & personal?
Becoming a really truly author is a long-haul plan. I would compare the vision that has sustained me to that I had of myself as a horse-rider. I really wanted to get good at that and I needed to keep the vision before me through fear and generally being useless at it, which wasn’t fun, but I was determined and I persevered.
The big difference with horse riding is that I knew when I was bad at it but I couldn’t, at the start, understand why my early masterpiece manuscripts were lambasted or rejected.
Irrespective of this, published or unpublished, you can totally lose yourself in writing and go to a wonderful place of complete immersion, so that, irrespective of the quality of what you turn out as you’re learning how to be a good writer, your experience can be profound.

5. When you are not writing, what do you do? What are some of your favourite ways to relax?
My favourites are walking and cooking. I enjoy cooking Mediterranean dishes and trying out what I call Bible recipes. I recently wrote a blog post speculating on the Bible food Jesus ate: http://testimonytrain.com/Biblefood.
I love to walk in the countryside and enjoy God’s Creation. You will find me out in most weathers.
I enjoy movies and, of course, I read a lot, too, currently about Ireland and the Troubles which is the subject of my next book. I also like to read about Jesus’ Jewish practice. Fiction books for me are a real treat but I am very picky.

6. Who are your 3 favourite authors? How have they influenced your writing?
My favourite author is definitely Daphne du Maurier. This is because of her tremendous sense of atmosphere and because she loves beauty and history, although her subjects are dark. Her economic yet graphic use of language is inspirational.
Beyond Daphne, I tend to have favourite books rather than favourite authors. Two great books that come to mind are Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand and The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean. Both of these skillfully turn investigative research into page-turning narrative.

7. What is your biggest challenge as an author?
My cup runneth over. I have so many book ideas in holding patterns. Also, today’s author being a marketer as much as a writer, I find that I never set aside enough time for promotion since I want to get on to the next thing. I am trying to train myself to pace myself better.

8. What is your next book about?
I am currently working on a book about the Irish War of Independence in 1921. This is a true story that points up the emotions and feelings of people of both sides, the “rebels” and a pair of British newlyweds, who find themselves thrown together in a remote part of Ireland.

Thank you Bobbie, for your interview responses!

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New Year always brings an opportunity to reflect on the year just passed and looks to the future; it is a chance to set new goals and to change the way we see ourselves. Part of this process of self improvement can be helped by reading the right books; here are the top ten must read books for the coming year:

 
1. The Four Agreements; A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom by Don Miguel Ruiz
This book highlights the wisdom of the Toltecs; the work of a group of scientists and artist which has existed for decades and explored the wisdom of the ancients. All things are possible through four, key agreements: Don’t take anything personally, don’t make assumptions, always do your best and be impeccable with your words.


 
2. The 4-hour Work Week: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Timothy Ferriss
This author has written several books on how to be successful by just working four hours a week. Each book focuses on a particular career choice, except for this one. The 4-hour Work Week focuses on the principles you need to adopt to make the four hour work week a possibility.

 
 
3. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People has been successful for many years because it is written in simple, understandable terms. Put simply, adopt the following habits and you will become more effective and successful;

• Begin with the end in mind
• Be proactive
• Understand others first
• then be understood
• Cooperate whenever possible
• Renew your skills and energy regularly
• Think winner!

 
 
4. A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of “A Course in Miracles” by Marianne Williamson
The book emphasizes the importance of allowing faith and love to be an integral part of your daily life. It can help overcome all sorts of trauma and pain as well as creating a magical effect in your life and the life of your children.


 
5. Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink
Daniel Pink has nearly forty years of research into human motivation and this book seeks to examine the truth of what motivates someone. It examines the three main concepts; autonomy, mastery and purpose and offers tips and insights as to how to make them a part of your life and improve your life accordingly.


 
6. The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment by Eckart Tolle
This book delves into spirituality and its effects on daily life; it reflects on how an increased awareness of spirituality can improve your life. The Power of Now introduces a practical way to bring spirituality into your life and how, living in the moment, can bring about huge rewards.


 
7. The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything by Sir Ken Robinson
This inspiring book is a must read for anyone looking to defy the odds and make an impact in the society and world around you. It focuses on finding your ‘element’ and then using this to improve your own life and that of those around you.


 
8. Whatcha Gonna Do With That Duck?: And Other Provocations by Seth Godin
This book takes a look at the areas in everyone’s lives which should and, in fact, must be improved. It is brutally honest and, at the same time, genuinely inspiring. The book will become your best friend and your guru.

 

 
9. The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene
Power is not something that everyone should desire and this book does not seek to assist you in your quest for power. Instead it discusses the principles of power and effects of it. Reading The 48 Laws of Power will help you understand what you need to do if you want power and how others will use their power to manipulate you; if you let them.


 
10. Eat That Frog! by Brian Tracy
Everyone knows what it is like to have good intentions but to be distracted by other ‘more important’ things. This is procrastinating. To beat this and get things done it is essential to set your priorities, break jobs up into small challenges and even now which job to tackle first. This is an incredibly motivating book!
 
 

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By Paul Trevino and LoveReading.co.uk!
Paul is a regular contributor at many sites and mainly focuses on business and books related topics.

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1. David Litwack – The Daughter Of The Sea And The Sky

 

2. Suzannah Burke – Acts Beyond Redemption

 

3. Miriam Jaskierowicz Arman – Revealed

 

4. Sally Saylor De Smet – Pages in the Wind

 

5. Melody Green – The Silent Suicide: The Hurting’s Siren Song

 

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E-Book + E-Gift + Cross Promotion = Great FREE Promotion for Children’s Books

By Carolyn Howard-Johnson,
Author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers

In a discussion I had with one of the longtime subscribers to my SharingwithWriters newsletter, Wanda Luthmam, author of The Lilac Princess, she said, “Of course the thing that is different for children’s authors is that the product is for children yet the purchaser is an adult.”

Because Wanda is absolutely right, one of the best kinds of promotion is one where children’s authors cross promote. That means partnering with other others, sharing lists. Forming groups where you cross-tweet one another’s tweets that point out benefits of each children’s book to the parents cause kids won’t be on Twitter, not yet at least.

One of my favorite promotions—the one that lasted longer and was more “keepable” than any other I’ve done—utilized cross promotion. Here is a case study of that promotion straight from my multi award-winning The Frugal Book Promoter. I have adapted it slightly to be more meaningful for children’s authors.

The anatomy of a free e-book might be just what you need to make one work for you. The free e-book I published as a cross promotion with other authors was one of best, most long-lasting promotions I’ve done. Let’s call it the new math for free publicity. It is: E-book + E-gift = Promotion. Oops. Error. Make the answer FREE promotion. However, it would be better if we slotted in another element: + Cross Promotion.

I met Kathleen Walls in an online group. She asked more than two dozen authors from several countries to contribute to an e-book that would be given away. Her idea, Cooking by the Book could be used as a gift of appreciation to the support teams it takes to edit and market a book and to the legions of readers who cook but had never read any of our other books. Children’s authors could use exactly the same idea (or adapt the basic steps to another theme). Here’s why.

Authors who had at least one kitchen scene in their books (children’s authors might have a household cooking scene or just something foody going on in the plot like lollipops, ice cream cones—even apple trees!) were invited to contribute to Cooking. Each author’s segment begins with an excerpt from that scene. The recipe comes next, and then a short blurb about the author with links so the reader can learn more about the authors and their books. When children’s authors adapt the them, they might adapt the recipe segment to something else that would appeal to parents like the psychological benefit their child will get from reading the book.

This e-tool was a cross-pollinator. Contributing authors publicized it any way they chose as long as they gave it away. Here are some of the ways we used to distribute Cooking by the Book:

• Some offered a free e-book as part of a promotion and let people e-mail them for a copy. This is the least techy approach and it allows personal contact with readers. It also allowed us to collect and categorize our readers’ e-mails to use in later promotions.
• Some set up an autoresponder that sent our e-book directly to our readers’ e-mail boxes when they sent requests to an address we provided. This automated approach requires little but promotion from you after you’ve once set up the responder. I sent the first chapter of my novel using SendFree.com, but it could as easily been a full e-book.
• Some contributors sent readers to their Web sites where they found a link to download a .pdf file of our free e-book. E-books distributed like this are more effective if they include an offer or call-to-action—perhaps a discount on a series of your books—within its pages. If I did a promotion like this again, I’d include a contributor page in the backmatter that listed each contributor, her book’s title, and a direct link to an Amazon Kindle edition. The side-benefit for this is that traffic to your site soars and that helps your search engine optimization (SEO).
• Some contributors let others distribute our e-book as a gift to their clients, subscribers, or Web site visitors—either with a purchase or as an outright gift. When you use this method, you get to set the guidelines for its distribution because you provide the free e-book.
• If we were doing this promotion today, we could offer our free e-book through Smashwords.com. To make free e-book editions work for you, your book must include ads, links in the text, or both to entice readers to your Web site or to buy your other books.
• You may find other ways to distribute your e-book or alter these processes to meet your needs. You could even give out business cards or bookmarks at children’s bookfairs that give the links to the free e-book you are offering.

Contributors to our Cooking by the Book benefited from their efforts and from contacts with other authors. It turned out that we had some superior promoters among us:

• Most of us set up a promotional page for the cookbook on our Web sites.
• One promoted it in her newsletter.
• Mary Emma Allen writes novels, but she also featured the cookbook in the columns she writes for New Hampshire dailies The Citizen and The Union Leader.
• David Leonhardt incorporated the cookbook into a Happiness Game Show speech he delivered over a dozen times.
• We all gave away coupons offering this gift at book signings. Because e-books cost nothing to produce, they can be given to everyone, not just those who purchase a book. Some made bookmarks featuring this offer.
• I put an “e-gift” offer for Cookbook on the back of my business cards.
• If we were doing this promotion today, we’d all blog about it and use Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and other social networks.
• We treated the promotional book like a real book. We got blurbs and reviews. Reviewer JayCe Crawford said, “For a foodie-cum-fiction-freak like me, this cookbook is a dream come true.” That review popped up in places we didn’t know existed.
• We used them as e-gifts to thank editors, producers, or others online.

Our most startling successes came from sources we had no connection to at all. The idea for using a promotional e-book like this was featured in Joan Stewart’s The Publicity Hound, in Writer’s Weekly, in the iUniverse newsletter and more. They probably found it especially newsworthy because it worked so well for writers of fiction. Your book themed for the parents of children might appeal to popular psychology Web sites or others—depending on the theme.

When I queried radio stations for interviews with angles related to this cookbook, I had the highest rate of response I’d ever had, and that was in competition with a pitch for my novel This Is the Place just before the Salt Lake City 2002 games and an intolerance angle on the same novel right after 9/11.

Each year Mother’s Day beckons us to repeat our publicity blitzes, because, if you haven’t noticed, mothers tend to do lots of cooking. Almost any e-book that appeals to mothers of young children could also benefit from Mother’s Day promotions.

Hint: I love services like Createspace.com and Bookbaby.com for publishing both e-books and paperbacks, whether or not they are to be used as promotions. You can probably do everything yourself and absolutely free except for the copies you buy and the extra services, if you prefer to have that help. I also like that you can put your own publishing company’s name on the book—in other words, develop your own imprint. There are even templates for covers there. If this feels kind of publishing feels scary at first, I can coach you through the first one and you’ll be set forever more. Contact me through the contact page on my Web site.

Special E-Book Offer: I offer a free e-book for subscribing to my Sharing with Writers newsletter. Find the offer on most pages of my HowToDoItFrugally Web site, upper right corner. Everyone is your cross-promotion pool could do the same thing.

Here’s another idea from Wanda. She says “At my events, I invite children to my table to make a free craft that is book-theme related. While they are working, I talk to the parent about the benefits of the book and reading.”

 

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Carolyn Howard-Johnson brings her experience as a publicist, journalist, marketer, and retailer to the advice she gives in her HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers and the many classes she taught for nearly a decade as instructor for UCLA Extension’s world-renown Writers’ Program. All her books for writers are multi award winners including both the first and second editions of The Frugal Book Promoter and her multi award-winning The Frugal Editor won awards from USA Book News, Readers’ Views Literary Award, the marketing award from Next Generation Indie Books and others including the coveted Irwin award.

Howard-Johnson is the recipient of the California Legislature’s Woman of the Year in Arts and Entertainment Award, and her community’s Character and Ethics award for her work promoting tolerance with her writing. She was also named to Pasadena Weekly’s list of “Fourteen San Gabriel Valley women who make life happen” and was given her community’s Diamond Award for Achievement in the Arts.

The author loves to travel. She has visited eighty-nine countries and has studied writing at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom; Herzen University in St. Petersburg, Russia; and Charles University, Prague. She admits to carrying a pen and journal wherever she goes. Her Web site is www.howtodoitfrugally.com

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In an effort to understand Children’s Book Authors, their inspirations, their writing process, their needs, their problems,… we reached out to Donna Maguire, author of the Silly Willy Winston series who after close to 40 years in the advertising business Donna left it behind to care for her grand niece and nephew in Nevada some years ago.

Donna believes that the love for reading is more nurture than nature and reads to her grand children often. It was this reading that led her to pursue her life-long passion of writing children’s books. A collection of 4 books and fifth in the making, Donna joined me for my first ever video interview. I’m so exited it turned out so well. :)

In the interview Donna answers my questions about -

• her journey to becoming an author
• her inspirations, her muse, her learnings
• the challenges she has faced and what she did about them
• marketing activities she has done and her learnings
• why she has her own online store for her books & her favourite tools for book marketing
• her plans for the next book launch and the Silly Willy Winston Review Club

You can see all of Donna’s books and read more about her at www.sillywillywinston.com. Also connect with her on Twitter at @DmmSilly and on her Facebook Page.

        

        

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You’ve put in the long hours writing your new book and now it’s time for the launch party. Parties are typically something to be excited about but with so much riding on this one, you may start making plans with some trepidation. There are common reservations authors have about hosting a launch party. How can people have fun while keeping the event somewhat professional? How do you guarantee a good turnout? That seems to be a classic premise for sitcoms or movies about nerds. Someone throws a party and no one shows up. How will you keep people impressed and entertained on tight budget? The bottom line is that this party must be a success because word of mouth advertising is the best form of promotion for a new author with limited funds.

1. Socialize: The first and foremost tactic you will need is the ability to rub elbows. Even if you are the type of person that goes to a party and hangs with your group for the whole night, you will need to overcome your shyness for your book launch party. You will need to be like the restaurant Maître D and always be moving around the room engaging in friendly banter with strangers. Make yourself approachable and always available for questions. This may not seem worth mentioning to you extroverts but many writers are introverts so the tendency to sit at the corner table all night can be a difficult habit for some people to break.

2. The Buddy System: One tip to help with shyness is to bring a wingman. This will be a friend that is at least slightly less introverted. This person will introduce you when you give your speech, hopefully including a bit of humor to lighten the mood. Your buddy will also go around the room introducing you to the cliques and breaking the ice. Seriously, get together before hand and strategize this. As the man or woman of the hour, people will undoubtedly be coming up to you all night.

3. Time: Throw the party on the weekend. This one is self-explanatory.

4. Food: Another extremely important tip would be to not skimp on the food. Your guests are giving up their precious Saturday to come to your book launch. Show them they are appreciated by feeding them. Free food puts people in a good mood. It is better to have too much than not enough. Make sure there will be plenty of food for all guests to get full should they so desire. With some creativity cheap foods can be transformed into an appetizing meal. If you can’t afford catering then you and a helper will probably have to spend the better part of a day preparing the food. Do whatever it takes to make sure your guests are well fed.

5. Advertise: Promote your party plenty of time in advance. Hopefully the venue will allow posting a flyer by the entrance. Hang flyers elsewhere around town where your target market is likely to frequent. If your party will be at a bookstore or some other retail establishment you may be able to convince them to put postcard invites in the bags of every customer. This is more of a longshot than the flyer but it never hurts to ask. Of course, don’t forget social media. Setup a Facebook event.

6. Advertise More: Send out a press release. The major papers and news stations will probably ignore you but the smaller publications such as those free papers you see in the lobby of grocery stores, may just run a small article and could even send someone to the party. If you have a little extra to spend then toss an ad in one of those papers.

7. Document the Occasion: Utilize this opportunity to show yourself and your book as popular. Even if the turnout may not have been what you were hoping for you can still employ the services of a videographer and/or photographer to document the occasion in a favorable light. You can post this footage to your site and social media for a recognition boost.

8. Get Leads: With so many potential fans on hand it would be a shame not to collect some contact information. Ask guests to sign a form on their way in simply asking for a name and email. This is a great way to gain leads. Let it be clearly known that sign-up is not mandatory however.

9. Freebies: Give away some books throughout the night either with a raffle or a fun contest. So all guest will feel appreciated it may be a good idea to have cheap gifts that everyone gets just for walking in the door. Some unique bookmarks or pens would be fine. For the remaining books that you sell, you may want to round the price to a solid dollar amount as it is unlikely you will be accepting credit cards at the event, although the technology does exist to make this relatively easy. Either way your goal is to not be making change all night.

10. Time Management: Sign your books in advance so you will be free to socialize throughout the night. Get someone else to man the book table for the same reason. The same principle applies here as with food; better too much than not enough.

11. Theme: You could make the party a themed event through decoration and activities. Say your book takes place during the Victorian era, so you could follow that theme at the party with the décor for example. This is by no means a requirement for a great party as guests won’t expect it and it can add great expense but it is still worth mentioning. Avoid costume parties. They hinder turnout.

12. Venue: You don’t have to throw your party at a major bookstore. There are plenty of other options such as a mom and pop bookstore, community center, library, restaurant, bar or even outdoors if you can be assured of good weather. Don’t think about what would be most suitable for a book launch party; think about where your guests would have the most fun.

The main takeaway from this article should be “leave nothing to chance”. Parties are supposed to be fun and that is fine but you need to think of your book launch party as sort of like an Avon party; a party with a purpose. Plan and promote plenty of time in advance. Just like with travelling, a little planning goes a long way to ensure you have a good time and save money. Fond memories and kind words originate from pleasant experiences so remember that this event is not mainly about you or your book; it’s about the fans.

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James A. Rose is a writer for InstantPublisher.com, a self-publishing company that has been helping authors bring their visions to life for the past 15 years. James has worked in the publishing industry since 2010 and during that time he has seen pretty much every problem that authors encounter during the self-publishing process. It is James’ goal to utilize his experience at Instant Publisher to help budding authors avoid common mistakes and self-publish the best book possible.

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Carolyn Howard-Johnson is best known as The Frugal Book Promoter, but she has worn many hats including that of literary writer, poet, and writer for many well-known publications. We reached out to Carolyn to get her insights and wisdom on publishing, book marketing and editing.

Hi Carolyn, Thank you for taking the time to do this interview. For those who may not have seen your ‘The Frugal Book Promoter’ book, can you take a moment to tell us a little about yourself and your books?
I’m just a writer who love everything about writing. It’s a problem because that ranges from advocating for authors to copywriting to poetry and fiction. It makes it hard to focus, but it also keeps me positive and enthusiastic about writing.

You’ve seen the publishing space evolve over a long time. What’s different today?
I don’t think anything on the Web stays the same for more than a day. I had to learn the hard way. At first I wrote my how-tos for authors with as much detail about processes (like where to find things on Amazon) as possible. But page designs changed, links went bye-bye (even the ones famously called permalinks) and changes often meant that users needed to adjust everything from their philosophy to the way they work. That meant I had to adjust so I could bring authors more of what they need–both today and tomorrow. The basics like writing a great media release and putting together a great media kit never go away. And the way to think about promotion and marketing doesn’t change. So now I concentrate on things like how to make the most of a book fair or a book signing or suffer the consequences. Once we learn how to apply the basics, we can apply them no matter how the industry changes.
By the way, as a writer I formed a policy a long time ago. I don’t have to know all the tech all the time. I can learn what I need as the changes occur. You know. It’s learning on an as-needed basis.

Can you tell us a little more about ‘The Frugal Editor’ – why should authors read it?

Authors should read it because they for the first time they will be in charge of or partners in every aspect of publishing (one of those changes mentioned in the last question). Even if they snag a big New York publisher. Budgets are tighter. Authors want more control over their own careers if for no other reason than that–these days–they can! Knowing the difference between style choices and grammar rules will make better, more original authors of them! And this book does things that other books on editing don’t do, like help an author think like agents or other book professionals. Once we can do that, we’re in a better position to avoid major publishing booboos.
As an example, did you know that there are very few Jackie Onassis styles acquisition editors at publishing houses these days, that everyone is running on tighter budgets on everything from book cover artists to copy editors to marketing. Authors who don’t know about grammar and voice and formatting, and frontmatter and indexes, and . . .well, you get the idea! It’s a big publishing world out there, a world full of potholes just waiting for us to fall into.

Given that you recommend doing things frugally, should indie authors hire an editor for their books? How much does an average editing job cost? What are the benefits? How should an author select an editor?
These are all topics I cover in The Frugal Editor. In great detail. You don’t want me to write another book for you, do you? Ha!
Yes, everyone should hire an editor, but only a good editor. Authors who hire a typo hunter or their high school English teacher (who probably knows nothing about publishing) will waste their money. And we all know that most authors can ill afford to hire an editor for every document like query letters, press releases, media kits. And those are as vital to the success of a book as writing a great book. In The Frugal Editor I also caution writers: “You wouldn’t choose a contractor for a remodel of a house based solely on price, would you?”

What are some of the biggest mistakes newbie authors make with their books?
One of the biggest is signing a one-sided contract that protects the publisher and does nearly nothing for the author. One of the biggest editing mistakes is ignoring dialogue (nonfiction authors are especially guilty of this) or knowing nothing about writing dialogue or punctuating it. This is one aspect of writing that even those who grabbed down As in English have no training in whatsoever. Even those who think they do.

What are some of the simple, low-cost things that authors can do to promote their books
I love the kind of marketing that lets us do what authors usually like to do. That is, to write! So, in The Frugal Book Promoter, there is a chapter on marketing that covers ways to do that. My favorite is to write articles or edit excerpts from one’s own book to use as articles. . .or essays. . .or op-ed pieces. . .or first person columns.

How can an author get an outstanding book cover in a frugal manner?
How did you know! I am partnering with the cover designed I used for The Frugal Editor and The Frugal Book Promoter, Chaz DeSimone, to write a how-to book on this very topic. It’s amazing how much is involved in a great book cover, including marketing. Choosing a title. Thinking in advance about the future of the book and possible spinoffs. The use of keywords in the subtitle. Gleaning blurbs (endorsements) to go on the back cover–blurbs that are credible and help sell books.

Is it still possible to make a living as an author in today’s crowded marketplace? What can an average author expect from her publishing journey?
Absolutely! The keyword here is persistence. That means we have to continue to learn. As you have seen, we authors must be jacks-of-all-trades like we never had to before. You know those “overnight successes” we read about in the newspaper? They’re only overnight successes because we just heard of them. They’ve been honing their craft, teaching, developing new skills. Malcolm Gladwell says it takes about ten years for a person in any field to become an overnight success. Yes, I’m paraphrasing. But that’s the gist of it!

You’re also active on Pinterest. Is there any learning that you can share from here with authors?
One of the things I tell authors in The Frugal Book Promoter is to reread their book(s) with their marketing hats on. Fiction, poetry. Whatever. And watch the news cycles. We must keep wearing that marketing hat so that we can apply all the aspect of our books to what’s in the news, what’s on the Web, etc. Pinterest can be very efficient if we focus. Every author should have at least a few bulletin boards on the topic of writing or fields related to the theme or subject of their books and at least one bulletin board that makes it very clear that board is about that author’s books and writing career.
I have a marketing device, I use. I tell those who subscribe to my newsletter and blogs: “You pin my book cover (or covers), and I’ll pin yours.” But I can’t do it if I can’t find their covers on their Pinterest page or have to dig through 500 pins to find it! You’ll notice that little motto is in my e-mail signature, too:

Carolyn Howard-Johnson
Instructor for nearly a decade at the renowned UCLA Extension Writers’ Program
Author of the multi award-winning series of HowToDoItFrugally Series of books for writers
Amazon Profile: http://bit.ly/CarolynsAmznProfile
The Frugal Book Promoter: http://bit.ly/FrugalBookPromo
Web site: http://www.HowToDoItFrugally.com
E-mail: [email protected]
Facebook: http://Facebook.com/carolynhowardjohnson
Twitter: http://Twitter.com/FrugalBookPromo
Pinterest: http://Pinterest.com/chowardjohnson
You pin one of my book covers, and I’ll pin one of yours!
Let’s Network Today!

Where can readers find you on the web?
I like to send readers and authors directly to my sales pages on Amazon when possible but they can find all kinds of resources for themselves on my Web site: http://howtodoitfrugally.com. Just click on the Writers Resources tab on the top of the home page. And, yep! They can find what they need about all of my books there. We should never forget that people don’t only visit our sites to buy a book. There should be something there that will benefit them besides the book an author wants to sell.
PS: Authors can sign up for my SharingwithWriters newsletter there, too. There is a signup form on almost every page of my Web site.

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The digital age has created a generation of people who view digital media as the norm and some even struggle to interact with the physical product and its paper origins. Those who have been born into the digital era may even expect to be able to shrink, enlarge or swipe a paper product. The question that is asked over and over again is whether the method of reading is important; as long as people continue to read.

The Latest Findings
Research has shown that those who read electronically may be missing out. Studies into this complex field suggest that the act of physically holding, and turning pages, is far superior when it comes to retaining the information being read. The brain actually responds differently to printed words as opposed to computer generated ones. It is believed that this is linked to the way the mind perceives physical items. It is not programmed to perceive symbols and responds much better to ‘things’. The act of holding a book and of flipping through the book allows the mind to build a mental picture of the contents and emulate the contents into a voyage. This is often shown by the ability to pick up a book, even if you read it a long time previously and instantly locate the passage you want.

Speed Reading
Before the electronic reader or even the internet became common place research suggested that reading from a screen was always slower than from a physical book. However it now appears that the average electronic reader finishes an article or book electronic far quicker than if reading its physical counterpart. Unfortunately this development of speed reading comes at a cost; less information is absorbed and less comprehension is gained. This is an important issue that affects anyone who reads; whether electronically or physically.

Mobility
The development of electronic readers and the ability to read an e-book on a computer, tablet or even a phone has enabled people to read anywhere at any time. This has encouraged many people to start reading when they previously struggled with having the time to read. However, this convenience does not prevent people from mixing media’s. Research suggests that many of the people who enjoy reading electronically still prefer to read magazines and books when the opportunity arises.

Issues with Reading Electronically
The biggest issue is that the brain will intuitively map a text when reading from a paper source. This skill does not apply when dealing with electronic reading and the brain will not intuitively absorb the information being presented. The consequence of this is a lack of ability to learn or reflect on the subject matter being read. This issue arises from the necessity of the brain to see everything as a physical object. A page of writing will become a series of objects which create a landscape and allow the brain to absorb the information contained within it. Words on paper can be processed in such a way but this does not apply to the electronic book.
Much of the reason it does not apply to an electronic book is the inability to define the boundaries of any story. A paper book has defined corners, thickness and it is easy to see how far you have got into the story or even how far you have to go. It is this that creates the landscape in your mind and this that is not possible with an electronic book. An electronic book will not allow your brain to feel like it is a part of a bigger picture, you feel stationary in a moving world instead of crafting a journey through your surroundings.

A final point that is important to note is that, despite the ability to search an electronic book for certain words or phrases it is usually quicker to find the information you need from a paper book as it can be held in your hand and multiple sections quickly located and referenced. There’s no doubt that a conceptual retention and understanding increases the more paper books we read. Even though e-reading is also increasing in popularity, some people related better to a story when they hold an actual book in their hands.

By Paul Trevino and LoveReading.co.uk!

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1. DJ Shaw – Blood Lust

 
 
2. Kim Cormack – Enlightenment: The Children of Ankh

 
 
3. Tim Gough – Random Thoughts on Youth Work Management

 
 
4. TMalkia Zuri – Divorcing Jesus: A Love Story

 
 
5. Hank Quense – Planning a Novel, Script or Memoir (Fiction Writing Guides)

 
 

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The BookBuzzr Flipper has been an essential tool for over 11,000 authors. Last July, with the release of the iPhone compatible Flipper we had made book excerpts of our authors accessible to a whole new class of users. Today, we’re pleased to announce the release of a new version of the Flipper where the pages rendered to readers are sharper and crisper regardless of zoom level.

Figure 1 is a snapshot of the earlier format. Figure 2 shows the same page, but with the new, advanced image formatting. Note that the image is sharper in Figure 2, scaling in such a way that the image’s resolution is always preserved. No matter how deep the zoom, the image scales accordingly, without getting blurred or creating jagged edges.

Figure-1

Figure-2

 

If you’re an existing author, you don’t need to do anything. Just take a look at your own book in the BookBuzzr Flipper and give us your feedback. If you’re an author thinking about using the BookBuzzr Flipper, here’s another reason for you to do so now!

If you have any questions or comments, please write below or catch us on Twitter

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CoverMatcher is a simple game of matching book covers and has found a loyal following among book reviewers and bloggers. To date, the game has been played 835,201 times by avid readers.

I absolutely love playing CoverMatcher on Freado! It’s a great way to unwind after a stressful day, and unlike most games it has real prizes instead of virtual prizes! I love the selection of books available, and have been able to bid on books everyone in my family will enjoy – Teresa Delaney

Now based on the feedback that power readers like you have provided, we’ve taken CoverMatcher to a whole new level of awesome. You can now win, not just the best-seller that we list on the page, but also use the nifty search feature to hunt through Amazon’s book lists and select a book of your choice.

In case you’ve had your nose stuck in a book for the last few years and don’t know what CoverMatcher is …

CoverMatcher is a game where you can win a hard copy of your favorite best seller (priced $15 or less) by simply matching the most number of book covers in a day. We show the books of our participating authors in the game. The game is a form of advertising for them. As you play the game, you land up discovering new books. It’s a win for you. A win for our authors. And a win for us. Even if you don’t win the contest of the day, you will still enjoy the mental exercise and potential exposure to your next great read. Try it.

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BookBuzzr author Inger Iversen’s book – Inevitable: Love and War – recently hit the #1 spot on the Amazon. We reached out to Inger to learn more about her story.

The screenshot below was taken on Mar 05, 2015.

Tell us about your journey as an author so far.
When I started I didn’t think I would make a career out of being an author. I’d planned to write a book or two to supplement my income and have a hobby that would be a stress reliever after a hard days work. However, I soon realized that while I loved to write, it was also hard work and very rewarding. I started in 2011 when I wrote a very short prequel called, Goodnight Sam. I didn’t know much about the indie business back then, but I’d like to think that I have grown and come a long way. I went from writing a book in eighteen months to being able to write one in two weeks, I’ve learned how to brand and market myself, and I am doing much more than just supplementing my income these days.

What is the storyline of Inevitable?
Inevitable follows Teal and Trent to Maine for Katie and Logan’s wedding. Teal is a workaholic, a loudmouthed, takes no prisoners type who actually works in a prison. Trent is the proverbial boy from the wrong side of the tracks with a bad attitude and a good reason behind it.
Place these two in a stranded in a cabin for a few days and let the games begin…

Walk us through a typical day in your life.

Ha! I have a boring life! I only work six hours a night at my “day” job, so when I arrive at home at 6 a.m. I write. On a normal day I write from 7 a.m. to about 10 a.m. and then I sleep. I have such an odd schedule, but that makes for easy writing time. I wake up around 4 p.m. and write again until about 8 p.m. On this schedule I can write a novel in 14 days!

How do you divide your time between writing and promotion?
Dividing my time between writing and promotion one of the hardest aspects of the job. While I want to promote and get my work out to new readers, I have to write in order to make current readers happy and not waiting too long between novels. That is where BookBuzzr comes in. I use the Twitter Scheduler and Freado giveaways to promote and tweet about my novels. I use Facebook and Instagram on a daily basis. Actually, I feel like I spend 90% of my time on Facebook and about 10% writing!

What are some of the things that you do to promote your book?
To promote my book I use Amazon giveaways, Freado giveaways and I use Bookbub, the Midlist and OHFB to promote. Those sites email my sales and deals out to their subscribers who are interested in receiving notifications about books and sales. I also hired a production company to create a trailed for my novel, Incarcerated. The biggest tool I use is Facebook. It is where the readers seems to be so it is where you will always find me!

How does BookBuzzr tie in to your overall marketing plan?
BookBuzzr is really helpful. I love the Tweet scheduler function and it is one of the reasons I choose BookBuzzr over other sites. I learned about BookBuzzr last year from Rachel Thompson of Bad Redhead Media and I have been using it every since.

Your book trailer for your other book Few Are Angels is of a very high quality. How did you get this book trailer made? What was its impact on book sales?
The book trailer for Few Are Angels has made a BIG impact on my career, boosted sales and reviews. Last year I attended a conference called, UtopYacon. This was a big step for my career. I attended a Marketing class and a ‘How to Utilize Facebook’ class. While there, I screened a short movie called, Avarice created by Timid Monster. Timid Monster is producer Dan Baker and director Rachel Taylor. They agreed to shoot a trailer for me and the experience was amazing. I picked actors and even co-wrote a script.

What’s the best part of your job as an author?
Hands down the best part about being an author is receiving emails and messages from readers about how my stories have touched their hearts. There is no greater reward.

In your role as an author, what are some of the activities that you need to do but dislike doing?
Ugh…research! I hate research! I just want to write and write, but there are those few times when I need to fact check. A recent example is in the final book of the Few Are Angels series, Eternal Light. I have to research medical techniques from 1666. I cannot tell you how boring it is to read over information about the crude and crazy medical techniques of that period.

What advice would you give to a new author?
I get asked this a lot and I have two gems that I love to share.
1. Never, ever and I mean never give up. You are your own worst critic, but you are also the only person who can tell your stories and readers want to hear them—trust me.
2. This isn’t a hobby. This is your business, your brand and your name. Readers will only respect it as much as you do. Treat it as if you love it because I know you do or you wouldn’t be here. I know it can be expensive, but always get professional editing, covers and formatting. Yes, some of use are multi-talented and can do some of these things, but if you can’t just let the professionals do it.

Note to Reviewers:
For a limited time, a free review copy (paperback) of Inger’s book Inevitable is available on Freado.com – http://www.freado.com/auction/4485/6666/inevitable-love-and-war
 

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1. Liesbeth Heenk – Hermitage Amsterdam: Highlights from the Hermitage Museum St Petersburg

 
2. Maxine Douglas – By the Blue Moon (Blue Moon Magic Book 1)

 
3. Marguerite Arnold – Green: The First 12 Months Of Modern American Marijuana Reform

 
4. Rick Blaisdell – One Life to Give-Living Water for Thirsty Souls

 
5. Staci Troilo – Type and Cross

 

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BookBuzzr subscriber Charlotte Riggle’s book – Catherine’s Pascha has been recently launched on Amazon and has begun garnering positive reviews. We connected with Charlotte to learn more about her book and her world.

The screenshot below was taken on Mar, 25 2015.

Can you tell us about yourself?
Even though Catherine’s Pascha is my first book, I’ve always been a writer. For many years, I’ve mostly written things like computer help systems. That’s not as much fun as writing children’s books, but it’s a steady job. And, honestly, I’ve always been grateful that I could make a living doing something that I enjoy as much as I enjoy writing.
My husband is a junior high math teacher. He and I live with a large, fluffy white dog in a rambling old house in a small town in the Pacific Northwest. One of my kids called it The Ugly House. From the outside, it’s very plain and very small. But it’s bigger on the inside than it is on the outside. And it’s full of books. Floor to ceiling, on shelves and ledges, in stacks on every flat surface, there are books.
I love the idea of tiny houses. But if I had a tiny house, I’d have to have two: One for me, and one for my books.

What is Catherine’s Pascha about?
It’s about a little girl celebrating Easter in the Orthodox Church. That sounds terribly boring, doesn’t it? But in the Orthodox Church, we celebrate Easter (which we call Pascha) in the middle of the night. The service starts at about 11:30 at night, and it lasts for three or four hours. It’s a wonderful celebration, with processions and candles and bells and incense. And then, after the service, at many parishes there’s a huge party.
So the story is about a little girl struggling to stay awake for a celebration that she’s been looking forward to for all of Lent, and even longer. It’s like Christmas, only more so: the biggest celebration of the year, the most important, the most festive, the most exciting, the most fun.

Why did you write this book?
When my children were little, each year I gave each of them a beautiful new Christmas picture book. There were always so many to choose from. I never had trouble finding four or five beautiful books. Sometimes I had trouble selecting only four or five out of what was available!
I wanted to do the same thing at Easter, but there just weren’t as many Easter picture books available. Not only were there fewer books, but the range of books was much narrower. There were Bible stories, and silly books about eggs and bunnies. There were a few impossibly didactic and boring books about the meaning of Easter. But I wanted to buy my kids the same kinds of sweet, fun, engaging stories that I bought them at Christmas. Unfortunately, those books didn’t seem to exist.
I finally decided that the only thing to do was to write the book I wanted myself.
That was over twenty years ago. I did try to get the book published back then, and I got the most amazing rejection letters from the publishers I submitted the book to. They were personal letters, telling me how much everyone who looked at the manuscript loved it. But, they said, they had to decline the book because they couldn’t figure out how to sell enough copies.
So I kept the manuscript for all those years. And just over a year ago, I was reading about how new printing technologies were affecting book publishing. The article said that rich, beautiful color printing was now available as print-on-demand, and that was going to revolutionize the market for children’s picture books.
Perhaps “revolutionize” is too strong. But high quality color POD printing has certainly changed the market. Because of those changes, I was able to find a small, non-traditional publisher who was also an illustrator, and who was willing to take a risk on my book.
Although, to be honest, saying that I found her is giving myself too much credit. It’s more like, when the time was right, not according to my schedule, but according to God’s time, the publisher and illustrator that this book needed appeared.
And now Catherine’s Pascha isn’t just a story I told my children. It’s a real book, a beautiful book, a lavishly and lovingly illustrated children’s book.

You mention the illustrations. This artwork in this book is amazing. What was it like, working with your illustrator?
Oh, my goodness, it was wonderful! I couldn’t have asked for a better illustrator. It’s not just that Becky is a fabulous artist – she’s that, of course. But Becky understood the story. She understood that the story is about one little girl on one Pascha in one parish – but at the same time, it’s about the universality of Pascha, the universal joy of the Resurrection of Christ.
And I just love all the ways she chose to convey that universality. The most obvious thing is the way she used Orthodox churches from around the world to frame each of the pages of the story. So, while Catherine and her family are arriving at her parish, in the background of the page, there are people arriving for Pascha services at another parish somewhere else in the world. Each spread shows one or two churches, from Antarctica to Egypt, Jerusalem to Japan, Australia, Alaska, Argentina, and lots more.
Becky spent a great deal of time choosing the parishes, researching their history, their location, the local culture and traditions. And all her research shows in her beautiful artwork.
I also love the way she used the moon to convey the passage of time in the story. As the story is beginning, the sun is setting at Catherine’s house, and the moon is beginning to rise. As you turn the pages of the book, the full moon moves through the sky, until, at the end of the book, the moon is setting and the sun is beginning to come up. It almost feels like the moon is a silent character in the story.
Becky always asked me for my thoughts about the spreads she was working on – was it true to Catherine? Was it faithful to the way things are done in Orthodox churches? Did it fit the images I’d had in my head all these years? And, always, it was the case that what she chose to do was even better than what I’d imagined. More than once, when she sent me a sketch of a spread, I ended up with tears in my eyes.

What’s the best part of being a children’s book writer?
I don’t know if I can name just one best part. How about three?
The first best is simply that it’s the fulfillment of a dream. I’ve wanted this book to exist for so long, and now it does. And there’s a tremendous amount of joy in that.
The second best part is all the people who have fallen in love with the story I wrote, and have wanted to help with it in all kinds of ways. It’s been absolutely amazing. You’ve heard the expression, “It takes a village to raise a child,” right? It seems that I’ve had a village grow up around me, helping me bring this book out of my dreams and into the world. It’s been amazing, and joyful.
And the third best part, and probably the very best part of all, is the children. When you read a book to a child, they don’t pretend they like it to be polite. They let you know exactly what they think of the book. And when I’ve done readings of my book, the children in my audiences adore it. They love the story. They love the characters. They love the pictures. I’ve gotten emails from parents telling me that their children want to read it over and over, that they want to read it to their grandparents, that they want to take it to bed with them and sleep with it. I’ve gotten sweet notes from precious children thanking me for writing the book and telling me how much they love it. How can that not melt your heart?

What’s the most boring or tedious part of your work as a writer?
Record-keeping. I have to keep track of mileage and other expenses. When I do a reading and sell books, I have to keep track of money in and money out. I have to keep records of what I do with all the books my publisher sends me. That’s just what you have to do if you have a small business. And having a published book makes you a small business.

Your website has a clean look and feel. Can you walk us through the process of finding and working with a web-designer?
Sure. I spent a lot of time looking at web designers’ web pages, and the pages they had designed. I realized pretty quickly that I couldn’t afford the web designers that I liked. So, initially, I designed my own website.
I’m a writer, so the content was good. But I didn’t know nearly enough to create an effective website. The worst thing about my initial design was that it just didn’t work very well on mobile devices. I didn’t realize that more than half the visits to my website were from people on smartphones and tablets. Visiting my site had to be an experience in frustration for them.
And that’s if they ever found my site. Because the other worst thing about my site was that it was almost impossible to find if you didn’t know it was there. Most of what I knew about SEO was out of date, and the rest of it was just plain wrong.
I finally realized that I was going to have to have some help with the site. But I knew that I couldn’t afford the web designers whose work I liked. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do.
But, just as with my illustrator and publisher, the right web designer appeared at the right time. A friend introduced me to a friend of hers, Tami Heaton, who is the president and creative director of Undeniable, a digital marketing agency. Tami is enormously talented, and in the past she’s worked with folks like Disney Online, The SCI FI Channel, The Village Voice, MTV, VH1, Nicktoons Network, Sirius Satellite Radio, New York Times Digital and Rosie O’Donnell, among others. Of course, I knew from that list that I wouldn’t be able to afford her.
But at the time we talked, Undeniable was still relatively new, and she had time to take on a small project at a discounted price. Small to her, anyway. But it was huge for me.
Tami evaluated my marketing strategy, and decided that I was doing everything right. Except that website. Event marketing, Facebook, all of that sort of thing was working well. But the website …
So Tami created a new website for me. She developed the design, and built it on WordPress. And then it was beautiful, and it worked on mobile devices, but it still wasn’t as findable as we wanted it to be. So Tami taught me everything I needed to know about SEO, and we started making spreadsheets: keywords, URLs, headings, the names of art files, all sorts of things that would affect search engine results. And then, once we were both happy with the spreadsheets, we scrubbed the site to implement the plans.
Working with Tami was great fun. She’s creative, flexible, clear about what she can do for you and what’s better for you to do for yourself, and she’s encouraging and supportive. She wants your project to succeed as much as you want it to.

What are some of the things that you are doing to market your book? How does BookBuzzr fit-in with your book promotion plans?
Our first step for marketing the book was the website. I don’t think most websites for authors or books have much on them to get people to come back to the website. I wanted to create the sort of website that people would bookmark and come back to over and over. So we have tons of information on the website – history and traditions related to Pascha, recipes, worksheets and activities and lesson plans related to the book, more information about the illustrations, just all kinds of things. If we have information that people want on the website, if they come back to it over and over, then every time they come back, they’ll be reminded of the book, and have another opportunity to buy it.
The second step was Facebook. There’s a Facebook page for the book. I also participate in a number of Facebook groups, and in some of those groups, I can share a bit about the book. Of course, you can’t overwhelm groups with endless posting about yourself or your pet project, and you can’t post about your book in a group where that’s off-topic. But Facebook, used well, is another place that you can let people know your book exists.
The third step was what we jokingly referred to as our MMO-PRPs: Massive Multiparish Offline Pre-Release Parties. We asked people at Orthodox parishes around the country to hold pre-release parties for the book between February 1 and February 22. We sent the party host a free copy of the book, and gave their parishes the opportunity to buy copies of the pre-release edition at a discounted price. I sent out “cookbook” instructions for hosting a party, for people who might want to host it but not plan it. But I encouraged people to do what they wanted – as long as they read the book to the kids, that was all I really needed. These were so much better than traditional launch parties. We had pre-release parties all over the country: Washington, California, Kentucky, Alabama, Massachusetts, and lots more. It was fabulous.
We also contacted a good number of bloggers who review children’s books, and sent them advance copies. I’ve been really happy with the reviews we’ve gotten. Good reviews can give your book credibility – of course I’m going to tell you that I wrote a wonderful book, but, as they used to say on Reading Rainbow, you don’t have to take my word for it!
We’re continuing to publicize the book through events. I’m doing readings at churches, along with the occasional school or bookstore. Even though it’s an Easter book, I’m hoping to be able to have the book at ethnic festivals at some Orthodox churches later in the year.
And we’ve got something really special coming up in August or September. FOCUS Pittsburgh, an Orthodox Christian charity, will be having their annual fundraising campaign for their Backpack Project, which provides food for the weekend for low-income kids. We’ve had a dollmaker create beautiful handmade dolls of Catherine and her best friend Elizabeth, and the dolls will be auctioned, with copies of the book, with all of the proceeds going to the Backpack Project.
Because Catherine’s Pascha is a picture book, it’s essential that people have a chance to see the pictures if they’re going to buy the book. We have BookBuzzr widgets on our website and our Facebook page, and we’ve had people tell us how much they liked seeing a sample of the book. We looked at some of the other similar widgets out there, and the rest of them were clunky; the user interface just wasn’t particularly good. The BookBuzzr widget is clean, easy, and usable.

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BookBuzzr subscriber – Luana Ehrlich’s book – One Night in Tehran has been seeing steady success on Amazon. It has garnered over 150 reviews and recently hit the number one spot on the Canadian Amazon store. We connected with Luana to learn her story.

The screenshot below was taken on Feb, 16 2015.

Hi, Luana, thank you for taking the time to do this interview. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

Although I grew up in Illinois, I’ve lived in either Texas or Oklahoma for most of my adult life. For a short period of time, I also worked with my husband, who is a Baptist minister, as a missionary in Latin America.
I’m called “Granny” by my two grandsons who live nearby, and until my husband’s retirement from a long-time pastorate, I was identified as “the pastor’s wife.” Now, at least among my friends, I’m simply known as “the author.”
This may be more than you want to know about me, but I’m also an avid reader, a news fanatic, and an enthusiastic supporter of the Dallas Cowboy football team.

What is the premise behind One Night in Tehran?
Because I’ve been a freelance writer for several years and also a fan of spy fiction, it’s probably not surprising I’ve always had a desire to write my own espionage thriller. However, until recently, I didn’t so because, quite frankly, I’ve never enjoyed reading Christian fiction as much as secular fiction. Yet, I knew the element of faith would have to be present in any novel I wrote. Then, one morning, after hearing about how Christians in Iran were living out their faith under intense persecution, the character of Titus Ray and the plot of One Night in Tehran suddenly came to life for me. I began by asking these questions: “What would happen if a veteran CIA intelligence operative in Tehran encountered a group of Iranian Christians and became a believer? How would his conversion affect his career? How would a man trained to lie and deceive others be able to follow the teachings of Christ in the real world? What if he was involved in a murder and was being pursued by an assassin at the same time?

When did you start writing One Night in Tehran and what was the process like?
When my husband and I retired, I began writing a blog. The support I received from my followers led me to start thinking about writing a novel. Once I had the general plotline in my head, I wrote it down in the form of a brief paragraph. Then, I began mapping out some character details. After that, I did very little in the way of outlining; instead, I allowed the action and dialogue to be spontaneous. The process became like reading a book, only at a much slower pace.

What was the process you employed in getting the book cover designed?
Book covers in the mystery/suspense/thriller genre have a certain look to them. I can easily pick up a book and know whether or not it’s written in that genre without reading the description. They’re usually printed in dark color with short titles in bold white type. When I studied the covers on Amazon and noted the ones that caught my eye, I realized how important a cover was, even in deciding to read a book’s description. With that in mind, I made a prototype of my cover using Adobe software, and I used that prototype to tell my professional cover designer what I wanted. Even though she never saw my homemade design, the end result was very similar to the one I’d done. I’ve done this same thing in visualizing the cover for my second book.

What is your goal as a writer?
My primary goal as a fiction writer is to entertain my readers. I want them to experience being in the skin of a covert intelligence officer, to know what it feels like to make life and death choices, and to know the constant pressure of hiding one’s identity in the shadows of obscurity.
As a Christian fiction writer, my secondary goal is to encourage my readers to live out their Christian faith by introducing them to characters who are flawed, weak, and struggling, yet determined to follow the teachings of Christ anyway.

What is your biggest frustration as a book author?
My biggest frustration as an author is not being able to write for several hours at a time without getting tired. Although writing appears to involve merely the mental processes, writing for an extended period of time takes its toll on the body as well.

What is your biggest challenge as a self-published author?
My biggest challenge as a self-published author is that I must wear several different hats at the same time. I need to promote myself as an author—the job of a publicist—format and publish my manuscript—the job of a publisher—and create and write my book—the job of an author. Achieving that balance is the biggest challenge.

What are you currently reading? How did you find this book?
Currently, I’m reading Personal by Lee Child

. He’s one of my favorite authors, and I was notified by a book club when he published this novel.

How do you divide your time between marketing your book and writing your next book?
I usually spend 3 hours a day marketing One Night in Tehran. That includes answering emails, visiting advertising websites, staying updated on market trends, and then blogging and using social media. After that, I spend approximately 8 hours a day writing my second book, Two Days in Caracas.

Do you use Hootsuite or any other twitter scheduling tools for your social media marketing?
I use Buffer for scheduling my social media marketing; I’ve found it very useful in both scheduling and also in its analytical capabilities.

How did you find your first 100 readers?
Much of the action in One Night in Tehran takes place in the state of Oklahoma, and my first 100 readers came from this geographical location. This was primarily because a month after publication, a person of influence in Norman, Oklahoma, read the book and advertised it heavily as a thriller worth reading. As a result, I was able to sell over 100 books at my first book signing.

When is the next book in your Titus Ray series coming out and what can readers expect?
Two Days in Caracas will be published in May 2015. In this action-packed second book in the Titus Ray Thriller series, Titus travels from Costa Rica to Caracas with a surprise stopover in between. Besides hunting down Jihadi terrorist, Ahmed Al-Amin, Titus will face an old nemesis, mentor a new operative, and deal with several demons from his past.

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Longtime BookBuzzr subscriber – Greg Messel’s books have been gradually creating a niche for themselves and finding a dedicated audience on Amazon. A reviewer recently wrote about his Sam Slater mystery novel, “I’ve read all three Sam Slater novels, and just finished San Francisco Secrets. Again, it was full of great San Francisco locations. great ‘bad guys’ and I enjoyed the story.”

Greg’s recent interview with Stu Taylor on Radio America gives a good overview of his latest book – Shadows in the Fog

Hi Greg, thank you for taking the time to do this interview. Would you start by telling us a little about yourself?

I’ve spent most of my adult life interested in writing, including a career in the newspaper business. I won a Wyoming Press Association Award as a columnist and have contributed articles to various magazines. I retired from the corporate world and now live in South Jordan, Utah. I’m a widower and have three adult children who are married and have 11 grandchildren.

I’ve written eight novels including my new one “Shadows In The Fog” which is the fifth in a series of mysteries set in 1959 San Francisco. “Fog City Strangler,” “San Francisco Secrets,” “Deadly Plunge” are sequels to the first book in the series “Last of the Seals.” There are three more novels: “Sunbreaks,” “Expiation” and “The Illusion of Certainty.”

I’m currently working on my ninth novel–the sixth in the mystery series–“Cable Car Mystery”–which will be published in late 2015.

Why did you become a writer?

I worked for my high school newspaper and fell in love with writing. I won a couple of writing contests and then I began writing sports and movie reviews for my local hometown newspaper in Concord, California in the San Francisco Bay Area. I supported myself in high school and college writing. I didn’t start serious novel writing until I had the time after my retirement.

How do you go about your writing process? Is there a method to the way you produce your books? Do you use an editor? Do you work with beta readers?

I begin working on the outline of the story and putting together chapters. I don’t necessarily work in order. If I have an idea for a chapter I go ahead and write it and then weave it into the finished product. I first want to get the story out of my head and onto the paper. I then will spent a few months polishing it and sometimes making major changes. I then turn it over to an editor and we usually make three detailed passes at the manuscript, not only refining the grammar and sentence structure but also making changes in the plot.

How do you design your book covers?

I work with my publishing coach who has someone on his team who designs my covers. I receive a lot of compliments about the book covers. I think they are vital to attracting readers. Book covers give a real strong first impression. I think some book covers, particularly for some self published authors, really screams “Amateur.”

What’s the best part about your job as an author?

The actual writing and creating is wonderful. While you are writing you escape into a different world. It’s thrilling. I love to talk to people who have read the books and enjoyed them.

What’s the most tedious part about your profession?

Marketing is hard. I think most authors will tell you that whether they are self published or working for a publishing house. It is extremely difficult to get noticed in the fast paced new world of eBooks and a shrinking number of book stores. I sometimes smile to myself at eBooks titled something like “How To Write a Best Seller.” Generally it involves several thousand people giving you a few dollars to read your eBook. That’s how “they” write a best seller but I’m not sure it helps you. I’ve noticed that there are very few ground breaking ideas to market. It comes down to execution and maximizing the exposures for your book. That’s something that BookBuzzr helps provide.

Your book-trailers invoke a sense of nostalgia. How do you get these book-trailers made?

I have a contractor, I work with who specializes in trailers. He has done all the trailers on the Sam Slater mystery series. I love his work.

What are some of the activities that you do to promote and market your book?

I do virtual book tours and try to be active on Goodreads. I also used Twitter and Facebook to promote my books. I’ve had some book signings which are always a thrill. I’m very proud of my web page. Check it out at gregmessel.com

How does BookBuzzr help you with your book promotion?

It increases my contact with readers and potential readers. I’ve received messages from all over the United States and some from Canada. The contests seem to generate a lot of activity.

Note: Most of Greg’s books are set in San Francisco in the 1950’s. Check out this quiz created by Greg using BookBuzzr’s quiz-builder and test your knowledge about the history of this city.

Sorry, your browser does not support iframes. Click here to continue

If you are looking for a page turning whodunnit mystery, you can get a review copy of most of Greg’s books including his popular first book in the Sam Slater series – Last of the Seals here – http://www.freado.com/auction/4130/6124/last-of-the-seals

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BookBuzzr author Regina Swanson’s book – My Husband’s Other Women – recently hit the # 3 spot on the Amazon. We reached out to Regina to learn more about her story.

The screenshot below was taken on Oct, 20 2014.

1. Congratulations on the success of ‘My Husband’s Other Women’. Can you tell us a little about yourself and your journey as a writer?

Thank you for showing interest in “My Husband’s Other Women.” It is appreciated.

I was born and raised in Dallas, Texas. I took a short hiatus from Dallas to attend college. Upon completion of my undergraduate degree, I returned to Dallas. I have Master of Arts Degree in counseling and a PhD in Education. I am a late starter to the writing profession. I have always enjoyed fiction and creating stories but only recently decided to put it down on paper. Once I completed my first novel, I sent the manuscript out to some of the larger publishing companies. Needless to say, I did not hear back from any. I was extremely grateful when I was introduced to Royalty Publishing House. The company owners, Niyah Moore and Porscha Sterling, were excited about the manuscript. Together we put in the work to bring this debut novel to lovers of women’s fiction.

2. Do you have a special time to write or how is your day structured?

I do not have a special time to write. When idea’s spring into my brain I make notes. I could be riding in the car or standing in line at the grocery store. In the past, I would make outlines of what I wanted to happen, but I stopped because I’d never stick to the outline. You could say that I let my characters develop themselves as I am writing. It gives them more of an authentic feel as opposed to sticking to a premade script.

3. Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

The most challenging part of writing for me is being concerned with how the editor views my knowledge of structure in preparing the manuscript. I know that may be weird, but the other parts of writing come very easy for me. I believe that my love of writing causes little stress throughout the process.

4. Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it?

Absolutely! I learned that I love happy endings. I also love developing characters. It is one of the best things in the world to get to decide the outcome of what’s happening.

5. Do you have any advice for other authors on how to market their books?

My advice for other authors is to first entertain yourself with your writing. If you by chance entertain others in the process, well that’s just icing on the cake!

Thank you, Regina, for your Interview responses!

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Vikram Narayan is the founder of BookBuzzr Book Marketing Technologies. Vikram is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University. Prior to starting BookBuzzr, Vikram founded another software company that has been successfully serving clients from all over the world since 2001. When he is not dreaming up ways to help authors accelerate their earnings and book sales, Vikram spends his time playing the guitar, practicing Aikido and spending time with his family._________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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1. Luana Ehrlich – One Night in Tehran: A Titus Ray Thriller

 

2. Alisa Griffis – Conundrum Kids (Volume 1)

 

3. Claudette Alexander – Sunrise from an Icy Heart: A Memoir

 

4. Mohit Misra – Ponder Awhile

 

5. Tysha Hill – Young-Minded Hustler

 

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Naveen is the Customer Support Executive and Social Media Manager at BookBuzzr. When he is not working or playing gta, he is working on finishing his graduation. Connect with him on Twitter, Facebook, Email.

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BookBuzzr author Linda Watkins recently had an opportunity to celebrate. Her book – Mateguas Island – recently hit the number 1 spot on Amazon in the Horror > Occult category.

The screenshot below was taken on October 14, 2014.

We reached out to her to learn more about her journey…

Hey Linda! Always a pleasure to connect with a fellow Carnegie Mellon alum! Why don’t you start out by telling us a little bit about yourself?

Sure. My family is from New England. We moved to Michigan when I was young and that’s where I grew up. After college – at Carnegie – I moved to the San Francisco Bay Area where I spent most of my adult life, working as a financial analyst at Stanford Unversity School of Medicine. When I took early retirement, I moved to Oregon for a brief time, then on to Chebeague Island, Maine, where I resided for seven wonderful years. Chebeague is an “unconnected” island – there is no bridge or causeway; access is only by ferry or private boat. It was there that I wrote MATEGUAS ISLAND. Last year, for personal reasons, I gave up island life and moved to Western Michigan where I live today.

I’m single and live with my three aging rescue dogs, Splatter, Spudley and Jasper,

Why did you start writing?

I think I’ve always been writing. When we were young, my sister and I used to write satirical sketches based on the era’s most popular tv westerns. Later in life, at work, I wrote “long forms” and business plans while, at home, I wrote songs, poems and bits of whimsy to share with family and friends. A novel, however, was something I never attempted until approximately four years ago when I started MATEGUAS.

I think there were two things that spurred me to actually sit down and write this book. First was a challenge from my sister who is also a writer. Second was the invention of the iPad! I got one of the first ones and it freed me from being tied to my computer. I could write anywhere – in my car, waiting in the parking lot on the mainland; on the ferry, going to and from Chebeague and in the wee small hours of the morning when my characters refused to let me sleep – they wanted their story told!

What’s the story behind ‘Mateguas Island’?

Well, as I mentioned above, I lived on an island not unlike my fictional one. Living on an unconnected island, there are times, most especially when a storm is coming (I experienced 2 hurricanes and an untold number of nor’easters while I lived there), that one can feel an overwhelming sense of isolation and claustrophia. These emotions play well into a story based in the supernatural. Also, you’ll note my main characters moved to the island from northern California – just like I did.

Since horror is the genre I most enjoy, I decided to write a horror story, using a fictional island as the backdrop. It began, initially, as one of those “house” stories – you know, there’s something evil lurking in the walls, etc. However, my characters had other things in mind and they led me to the story that is now MATEGUAS.

What’s the best thing about being a writer?

Gosh – the people you meet in your mind! And, you can do anything to them that you want! Also, your hours are your own – you can write in the early morning, late at night or whenever the spirit moves you. It’s so much fun creating a story – I can’t really describe it – it’s wonderful.

What’s the worst thing about being a writer?

As a self-published writer, I have to do all the promoting of my work myself and I can’t say I really enjoy it. I’d rather be writing. But promotion is a necessary evil and I have to do it!

What does a typical day look like for you?

I’m a morning person. I’m usually up around 5:30 – 6:00 am. After I let the dogs out and brew that first cup of coffee, I’m at the computer – reading emails, scheduling tweets, answering messages on FB and posting book promos there. After all that is done, I walk my dogs, feed them and then it’s back to the computer again, either doing promo stuff or writing/editing.

In the early evening, I’m again back at the computer doing promos. After dinner, it’s down time – I stop work and just relax.

What are some of the things that you did to market your book?

I’ve tried quite a few different things. I do Facebook promos in the numerous groups that feature books, I tweet and retweet, I’ve been on several different horror blogs as a guest, and joined in promotional events featuring book giveaways. I’ve also placed my novel on a number of websites that feature books. Outside of cyberspace, I’ve done signings and participated in charity events, giving away copies of my book

It was a BookBub promotion, that I’m now in the middle of, that catapulted me to the #1 Bestseller Ranking.

How did you learn about your book hitting the number 1 slot on Amazon?

As I mentioned above, I had a promotion going on, so I was watching the stats very carefully. The first day, the books were flying off the virtual shelves so fast, the Amazon ranking couldn’t keep up with them! I think the lowest number I saw was 123 in all paid, which blew my mind. Getting the #1 ranking in Horror/Occult, ahead of Anne Rice and Stephen King and lots of other amazing writers, was just too awesome!

Who designed your book cover for you?

The photos on both the front and the back are ones I took on Chebeague Island. The colorization and lettering, etc., were done by a fellow writer, H. William Ruback, who also has a graphic design studio – www.incolordigitaldesign.com.

How did you get your book and author websites created?

Another fellow writer and good friend, Steve LeBel (The Universe Builders), helped me set them up initially. The rest was done by just trial and error. I learn best by doing, not by reading about doing!

How did you manage to reach out to your first few reviewers and get them to read your book?

My book is published under Argon Press which is actually a consortium of writers. The aforementioned Steve LeBel set up a website for Argon and, in that website, members of the general public have the ability to download ARCs (advanced reader copies) of our unpublished work. I obtained several reviews from those readings.

In addition, I reached out to reviewers who have pages on Facebook asking them if they would be so kind as to read and review my work. I also sent MATEGUAS to the Midwest Book Review and Readers’ Favorite organizations in order to obtain editorial reviews. At the same time, I entered the Readers’ Favorite International Book Award Contest and was so thrilled and elated when MATEGUAS won the Gold Medal in Fiction-Supernatural.

When is your next book coming out? Can you tell us a little about it?

The next book is the sequel to MATEGUAS, aptly titled: RETURN TO MATEGUAS ISLAND. The novel is in the final editing stages now. My goal is to have the editing done by the end of October, then its on to formatting, etc. I have the front cover done – the back and spine will come later when I prepare the print version. I hope to publish the eBook by mid-December 2014. The print version will come later – probably in January or February of 2015.

As for the story, it takes place ten years after Karen Andersen and her family leave Mateguas. Karen’s daughters are now eighteen and want to return to the island to find out what really happened that night of the storm when everything changed. Karen, now married to Dex, naturally, does not want to go, but is eventually persuaded. There will be some major surprises in store for them on Mateguas, but I’m not going to give away anything here. Suffice to say, there is plenty of supernatural stuff going on as well as a healthy dose of romance. A brief excerpt of the novel can be found on my website, www.mateguasisland.com.

RETURN TO MATEGUAS is the second full-length novel in a three book series. I’m writing the final novel in my head right now and, once Return is publshed, hope to get started putting it down on paper! My goal is to publish that book by the end of next summer.

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Vikram Narayan is the founder of BookBuzzr Book Marketing Technologies. Vikram is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University. Prior to starting BookBuzzr, Vikram founded another software company that has been successfully serving clients from all over the world since 2001. When he is not dreaming up ways to help authors accelerate their earnings and book sales, Vikram spends his time playing the guitar, practicing Aikido and spending time with his family._________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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1. Debrah Martin – Patchwork Man

 

2. Nicola McDonagh – Echoes from the Lost Ones

 

3. Teno-E Etsebeth – Rite of Passage

 

4. Alex Jones – Walls

 

5. Mark Johnson – The Last Resort

 

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Naveen is the Customer Support Executive and Social Media Manager at BookBuzzr. When he is not working or playing gta, he is working on finishing his graduation. Connect with him on Twitter, Facebook, Email.

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1. Debrah Martin – Patchwork Man

 

2. Marilynn Dawson – Pumpkin Pie From the Ground Up!

 

3. Mary Ann Bernal – Scribbler Tales

 

4. K.P. Kollenborn – How the Water Falls

 

5. Robin John Morgan – Queen of the Violet Isle

 

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Naveen is the Customer Support Executive and Social Media Manager at BookBuzzr. When he is not working or playing gta, he is working on finishing his graduation. Connect with him on Twitter, Facebook, Email.

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Okay, I’m going to be up front about a few things: this article is divided into two parts. The first part is helpful, will give you burgeoning professionals some realistic ideas about the hellhole you’re about to dive into, and (maybe most important) this is probably the only time you’ll ever hear something like this. It’s also very depressing. So if you’re the type who gets all panicky wondering whether Captain America is going to make it through the movie, or who stresses over Family Feud reruns, skip to part two. Also, please consider a new career choice because you are probably going to blow your brains out at some point.

I told you this was going to be depressing.

But if you’ll stick with it, I promise there’s a silver lining. Or at least a less-black lining. Sometimes that’s enough.

Here goes…

Part One: The Suck

First, to establish my bona fides: I’m a full-time writer. I’ve written movies, and as of now I’m a #1 bestselling novelist, one of Amazon’s top selling horror writers, and have been a bestseller in something like forty countries. I’m “successful.” And so part of my job is to travel around to cons and symposia talking about what it is to be “successful” with other folks who somehow make a living writing down our dreams (or nightmares).

Inevitably one of us writerly types makes an offhand comment about the bad-ol’ days, the days of starving, of choosing between buying a word processing program and, you know, eating. Or some comment about how many writers die of drug overdoses.

Cue laughter. And the laughter from the audience is real.

But here’s the thing: the laughter from the folks behind the table, from the speakers, the panelists, the writers…well, it’s laughter of a different sort. Laughter that’s a socially acceptable alternative to running out of the room screaming.

We make jokes about it, about the suffering. Because otherwise we’d just curl up in little balls and cry. No one wants to see that. So we laugh, and the “newbies” and “wannabes” get the wrong idea. “Ain’t it funny,” they say. “Ain’t it grand,” they muse. “Ain’t it all so terribly romantic?”

Well here’s a bit of the romantic life of a writer: me, rolling over and bumping into my wife for the umpteenth time because we’re both crammed into a full bed. We used to have a king, but couldn’t take it with us when we moved. We moved because after the first big chunk of writing money ran dry, no more came, and for some reason the people in charge of our house kept expecting money. And our kids kept wanting to eat (lousy, greedy kids!). So we packed up and moved in with my parents. Four people in two rooms downstairs. Then a new baby came. So my wife and I are still in the full, plus a screaming newborn two feet away in a room that measures maybe twelve feet by twelve feet. We made sure the kids ate well, and both the wife and I lost weight.

Hahahaha…cue laughter. So funny.

We finally got out of my parents’ place, and moved into a nice house in a beautiful neighborhood. We have a king-size bed again, and we don’t worry about eating regularly. Another kid is on the way, and this one will have his own room. But I often work sixty hours or more a week, and I just had my first vacation in four years – a whopping four days in a row!

Welcome to the life of a “successful” writer.

And most of the ones who have made it have stories like this. Look at the bios of a lot of pro writers. They’ve been short order cooks, mail carriers, teachers (and that’s all one writer, mind you). Sounds like someone’s bopping around, doing research, but really that’s just a person whose royalties didn’t cover living expenses, so he or she took what was necessary to eat.

Not many of us talk about this. Partly it’s because we want to sound like we are King Crap of Turd Mountain, like our mommies shot us out knowing how to Write Good Books and we were bestsellers from day one. But partly – maybe mostly – it’s just too painful. We write books that we love…and no one else does. Or at least not enough people do. And we and our loved ones suffer for it.

No one should have to go through that. But if you choose this life, you will.

I’ll say it again: you. WILL.

Part Two: The Silver Lining

Why do I want to hurt you? Do I want to keep you out? To eliminate the competition?

Absolutely not. I want you to write. I want you to try, and to make it!

I think everyone’s got a story to tell – a good one – and I hope you tell yours. But going in without knowing the above is a recipe for (more) heartbreak. Be prepared, and you’ll last longer.

And there’s one more thing you can do. One more thing I’ve found that reminds me on the down days, the days I feel worthless and crappy and talentless (and this from a guy who’s making steady money on a level that most people only dream of).

This is what I try to remember: writing, at its core, is an exercise in love and community.

Let me explain.

We write first for ourselves. Someone hands us a pen and paper and we disappear into the magic of the written word. We take ourselves to places that seem unique to our own minds, no matter how derivative those early stories really are.

Eventually we branch out. We get better. We show our work to friends, to family. To a cherished circle of people whom we trust to be gentle, to care for our work and our hearts – for they are one and the same. And in so doing, we bring those people closer to us, closer to each other. We extend to them our trust, and they cannot help but trust us a bit more in return. A new community springs into being, a community centered around the lie of a fiction, the Truth of a story.

Hopefully at some point that community grows beyond the people we know. People who are strangers to us – strange in custom, in background, in beliefs and culture – come to read what we create. And suddenly they are strange no more, for they have understood what we communicated. They are friends. A bigger community, a greater tribe.

We are all at different places on this spectrum. Perhaps you have barely begun to share your work with others. Perhaps you are still laboring in secretive silence, afraid to show your words to any but yourself. Possibly you have a nationwide following, but hope to move across the oceans to Europe, to Asia, to other lands farther away than most of us will ever really know.

But no matter where we are, we can all move forward. We can all continue the labor of love, continue to build those communities. The money is nice when it comes, but it is – like all material items – a temporal, transient thing that comes and goes at the whim of too many factors for anyone to really control. No man is captain of his ship, and no person is even midshipman of his bank account. Not really.

But the love we carry for our writing…that is ours to provide, and ours alone. The care we give it… that is in our control. The communities we build…those are the real purpose of the writing.

So on the nights when we roll over slowly, oh-so-carefully so as not to bump a spouse out of bed or wake a sleeping infant in a room too small for either, we remember the love we share for both, the love we share for the work we have chosen, the love we both give to and receive from those lucky enough to enjoy our work…and we somehow sleep, and dream good dreams.

The writer’s life is not easy. It is, in fact, terribly hard. Bone-crushingly stressful, and wearying to body and soul.

But it is at the same time lovely, and good, and well worth it.

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Michaelbrent Collings is a #1 bestselling novelist and screenwriter, one of the top selling horror novelists on Amazon for over two years straight, and has been a bestselling novelist in over forty countries. His newest novel is This Darkness Light.

You can join his mailing list at http://eepurl.com/VHuvX to be notified of his new releases, sales, and freebies; and find more writing advice at http://michaelbrentcollings.com/writingadvice.html.

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You asked and we listened.

The BookBuzzr Flipper now works on the iPhone and related devices (like Android phones and iPads).

The Flipper was the original widget that we created at BookBuzzr and over 18,000 books (created by over 11,000 authors) are now available in the flip book format.

In case you’re new to BookBuzzr here is a recap of the BookBuzzr Flipper.

• Your book excerpt shows as a flip book which pages that turn like in a real book … just like the way you envisioned your book when you first wrote it.
• You can bundle additional information about your book inside your flipper. This includes your bio, the story behind your book, links to your Twitter, Facebook and GoodReads profiles and places where readers can buy your book.
• You can install the Flipper on your blog, website, WordPress site, GoodReads profile, email signature and more.
• The Flipper can also be installed on your Facebook fan page / public profile. This allows for greater engagement with readers who visit your fan page.
• Built-in analytics tools ensure that you can get data about how many people have read your excerpt
• Built-in SEO meta data ensures that search engines like Google will find and index the content in your book
• Build-in twitter integration which sends out tweets about your book when a certain threshold for readership is achieved
• A variety of ready-made color schemes and themes to ensure that the widget integrates seamlessly with your blog or website.

In short think of the BookBuzzr Flipper as your calling card for the Internet. No book should be without one.

And now, with the iPhone compatible BookBuzzr Flipper we’ve taken the usefulness of the widget to a whole new level. In order to get the widget code for your book, please login to your BookBuzzr Book Marketing Home page and click on the ‘Book Widget’ icon (in the ‘Book Marketing Widgets’ section).

Notes:
1. At present, the iPhone compatible Flipper Widget is available only for the books of subscribed authors.
2. The widget still has a few rough edges and these should get ironed out over the next week or so.
3. In the next couple of days, the widget will work on your blog and websites. For now, however, it works only on your Freado profile.

If you have any questions or comments, please write below or catch us on Twitter

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Vikram Narayan is the founder of BookBuzzr Book Marketing Technologies. Vikram is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University. Prior to starting BookBuzzr, Vikram founded another software company that has been successfully serving clients from all over the world since 2001. When he is not dreaming up ways to help authors accelerate their earnings and book sales, Vikram spends his time playing the guitar, practicing Aikido and spending time with his family._________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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