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An Author’s thoughts on the Independent Author Conference 2018

Geri Clouston
I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect when I registered for BookBaby’s Independent Author Conference. I had attended author conferences before, but not this one, and not one sponsored by a company I had analyzed and ultimately decided not to utilize when I first started publishing back in 2012. Would it be a valuable investment? A networking event with ancillary educational sessions? Or a weekend of advertisements disguised as a conference? The latter, of course, would not have been a wise use of my limited business funds, and this was what scared me the most about this venture. As a small business owner (a.k.a. Indie Author), I hate wasting money. Almost as much as I hate getting a “hard sell.” Fortunately, I didn’t have to answer “yes” to the last question and the attending vendors offered value. Ultimately, the Indie Author Conference turned out to be a mix of events and skill levels, and worth my time. While many of those attending (or at least those I met) were at the beginning stages of their publishing careers, I made a handful of connections with authors who were not new, like me, but who also didn’t quite have a handle on…

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The More the Merrier! Crowdfunding your Publication.

Geri Clouston
Experience with Crowdfunding                                                          by Dean Hamilton                                                              Author of The Jesuit Letter Crowdfunding is basically funding a project by raising money from a large number of people, each of whom contribute a relatively small amount.  Think of it as the same process Leonardo da Vinci practiced, but instead of one big patron named Medici, you had several hundred. The end result – a Mona Lisa! Hopefully anyway… There are any number of crowdfunding platforms online available to choose from, each offering various pluses and minuses. Check out various projects, past and present, read up on the costs/benefits and pick the one most suitable for your specific audience and project needs. The two I am most familiar with are Kickstarter and Indiegogo. There are literally a ton of articles available online on crowdfunding, so I’m going to focus my comments on my own experience: Crowdfunding…

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Authors' Chat, award winning books, indieBRAG, The B.R.A.G.Medallion, The Self-publishing World, Uncategorized, Words of Wisdom , ,

A Foodie Lit Thanksgiving

Geri Clouston
Foodie Lit Definition: a genre  of novels and memoirs filled with stories and recipes Susan indieBRAG Foodie Lit Blogger Herodias Long, born with an unusual name, had a long and unusual life. It was author Jo Ann Butler’s luck that while doing a genealogical search, she found this extraordinary woman in her ancestry. (Go to http://www.rebelpuritan.com/More.html for historical information pertaining to the novel.) Personal rights are a central of the trio of novels about Herod’s life and catalysts for many of Herod’s decisions.  With her father and brother dying of the plague when she is 12 and the family finances at a low point, a need for one less mouth to feed causes Herod to be sent to work for her aunt in London.  While she worked hard at her parents’ farm, Herod considers herself a slave at her aunt’s. The days of working class individuals, such as Herod and her families, were filled with an enormous amount of work from before dawn to late at night. Herod’s wish for freedom partially comes from this lack of any leisure.  I was struck at how young children began to work. By as young as 3, children had small tasks and by 8 or 9, often…

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Authors' Chat, award winning books, Bloggers, indieBRAG, The B.R.A.G.Medallion, The Self-publishing World, The World of Reading ,

A Novel Conversations with King Ludwig of Bavaria!

Geri Clouston
Dark Spirit by Susan Appleyard Q: Hello, I’m Helen the host of Novel Conversations, please do make yourself comfortable. Would you like a drink? Tea, coffee, wine – something stronger? You’ll find a box of chocolates and a bowl of fruit on the table next to you, please do help yourself. I believe you are a character in Susan Appleyard’s novel Dark Spirit. Would you like to introduce yourself? Are you a lead character or a supporting role?    A: Mmm. Thank you. How did you know I adore chocolate? I am Ludwig, King of Bavaria, of the Wittelsbach family, and I am of course the lead character in Ms. Appleyard’s book. Read the Entire interview @ Novel Conversations!

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Authors' Chat, award winning books, Bloggers, indieBRAG, The B.R.A.G.Medallion, The Self-publishing World, Uncategorized , ,

indieBRAG @ IAC

Geri Clouston
  The information and ideas I would like to share with you come from many of the 800 authors that have received the B.R.A.G.Medallion.  They are eager to share the “off the grid” ideas they have used! The thing that will make any book a bestseller is word of mouth.  Donating or giving your books away selectively is a way of generating word of mouth chatter.   1.  Contact high traffic stores, cafes, shops to leave behind books.   Authors have had success in leaving their books in any place that have “open” bookshelves like Starbucks Make new fans by leaving your book! One author left his books on the reading shelf at his fitness club and was pleased to see in go in and out frequently – hopefully winning new fans. If you only have an ebook- leave bookmarks or literature about your book and how to purchase it.   2.  Join with other authors to do promotions or events Three of our mystery authors got together and did a promotion calling themselves "The Mystical Mystery Sisters". Here is what they did: booked places on book blogs to host their guest posts and promote their giveaway ran a giveaway on Rafflecopter…

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Authors' Chat, award winning books, Bloggers, indieBRAG, The B.R.A.G.Medallion, The Self-publishing World, The World of Reading, Uncategorized, Words of Wisdom , , ,

Independent Authors Conference (IAC18)

Geri Clouston
What we learned: The Beginning (after you write a great book!) Philadelphia 2018   The cover, the title and the blurb are equally as important as a great story if you hope to make sales. Let’s think about your Amazon book page- The cover- needs to be eye-catching AND tell your story. The title- needs to say something about your story The blurb- needs to sell your book! How to do that?  The best advice one of the speakers had was to spend hours looking and reading blurbs from other books in your genre that are selling well.  Of course, you don’t want to “copy”, but best sellers get attention for a reason.  If you have an agent, they are going to tell you to find comps and this means finding books that are similar to your book and see what they are doing. The blurb should be a bit dramatic. Many authors use over the top words because they get attention.  “Deadly”, “Terrifying”, “Race against time”.- are attention grabbers. Many mention the name of the main character and another successful trick is to end with a question:  “Can Meghan run and hide from the devil himself?” Sub-genre mentions also…

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A Ghost Story & Pumpkin Soup for Halloween!

Geri Clouston
  Foodie Lit Definition: a genre  of novels and memoirs filled with stories and recipes Susan indieBRAG Foodie Lit Blogger By Patti Davis    The Blue Hour by Patti Davis The Blue Hour is dusk, that time between day and night that slips in silently, a few moments each day. It was Joshua Baron’s favorite time of day, a peaceful time when the world’s edges begin to blur. For an alone boy like Joshua, it was a time he was content, at one with nature and free from people, who could be bothersome. The Blue Hour is one of those wonderful books that is part fairy tale, part allegory, part time-slip and… part mean adolescent bullying. It is for young adults and adults alike, in the way that The Little Prince, Alice in Wonderland or The Giver are.  It has a clear message yet the characters, the magic and the quest are expertly woven together from the first to the last word, so the book is not moralistic. It is haunting, a perfect Halloween read. The Barons move to small town Clearoak to escape LA and its lack of civility, charm and freedom to be safe. The run down house is rehabilitated; Josh’s room is painted blue…

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Authors' Chat, award winning books, Bloggers, indieBRAG, The B.R.A.G.Medallion, The Self-publishing World, The World of Reading, Uncategorized, Words of Wisdom , , , , , ,

Marketing Strategy!

Geri Clouston
Good to have you join us Misty.  Thank you coming and sharing your thoughts on marketing- “You seem to be having some success in your marketing. I know other authors are always interested in what a successful author does.”   If you define ‘success’ as making savvy business decisions by placing ideas on a dartboard and then putting a blindfold over your eyes and playing a game of chance… well, then, yes, yes, I am successful at marketing. Just kidding, sort of. In actuality, the best way to learn and grow is to network. Meet fellow authors in your genre and industry, especially the ones who are cleverer and more experienced than you are (I begrudgingly admit).  When I first self-published in December of 2017 I was in for a rude awakening. Little did I know that marketing would be tougher than finishing my first novel that I’d been working on since 2012. I am a young adult author  so I felt it in my best interest to seek out my peers. So I decided to join a closed Facebook group called “An Alliance of Young Adult Authors”. Best decision I've ever made. If you’re like me and you like to stay low-key, maybe…

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Authors' Chat, award winning books, indieBRAG, The B.R.A.G.Medallion, The Self-publishing World, Words of Wisdom ,

Imperial Passions and Olives, Nuts & Bread!

Geri Clouston
  Foodie Lit Definition: a genre  of novels and memoirs filled with stories and recipes   Susan indieBRAG Foodie Lit Blogger By Eileen Stephenson   Byzantium in 1039 is not a time and place known well to many in the modern western world. The author sweeps away many misconceptions in her historical novel, Imperial Passions.  One  fascinating view is of the role of women. While medieval women had few rights in most parts of the world, Eileen shared with me that “Byzantine women held positions of more consequence than elsewhere, and they had opportunities that women in the rest of Europe did not have until centuries later.”  Two women ruled Byzantium in the 12th century, “Empress Zoe and Empress Theodora, who the people of Constantinople were fond of, despite their flaws. I think it just got people used to the idea that women could be in positions of authority.”  Importantly, as Eileen noted, literacy became common in 11th and 12th century Byzantium, reaching down into the middle classes and included women, which helped them accomplish more. Eileen gives us tantalizing views of female doctors and empresses, minority groups, generals and deposed kings, all in this cosmopolitan city. It is the many glimpses of women…

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Authors' Chat, award winning books, Bloggers, indieBRAG, Readers Thoughts!, The B.R.A.G.Medallion, The Self-publishing World, The World of Reading, Uncategorized, Words of Wisdom , , ,

FACT TO FICTION: The Writing of The Call

Geri Clouston
Fact to Fiction- Learn about stories that inspire great books! When I started writing my novel The Call, only six female umpires had worked in professional baseball, none of them at the major-league level. In 2016, I found that fact hard to swallow, so I wanted to explore it in fiction. As a lifelong baseball fan, I thought I’d absorbed enough knowledge to write about the game. But I had to know a lot more facts before I could write realistically about the people playing it. Especially during the time period I had in mind, the early 1980s, when there had only been three other women who’d taken the field in umpire blues. The story itself—because fiction needs a good story—began with another fact. On October 11, 2015, Los Angeles Dodgers second baseman Chase Utley made a late (and borderline illegal) slide into second to try to break up a double play. In doing so, he broke New York Mets second baseman Ruben Tejada’s leg. Utley was given a two-game suspension that was later overturned. Major League Baseball then ruled slides like Utley’s illegal, but Mets fans like me were still steaming. That’s when I knew I had to write…

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