Foodie Lit: A genre of novel and memoirs filled with food stories and recipes Each month, I’ll share the magic of a good foodie lit read and one of its recipes. Cooking and recipes in books take us into the mind of the character or narrator and brings us into the book’s kitchen to see, smell and share the lives within. Or I’ll take a good read and, with the author, find a recipe to pair with it! Either way, here’s to cooking and reading together John Hickman’s Black Bear Killer. Reading about a cop’s cop. Nothing like being a cop and writing a mystery about a cop. You just feel that Sheriff Dell Hinton is the real thing. Author John Hickman, a 25 year veteran of law enforcement, told me, “Dell is basically my alter ego. If I had continued in law enforcement, my ideal retirement job would have been as a Sheriff in a small, rural community.” The crimes and investigations may have a ring of reality…
Did you know that many of our indieBRAG readers are authors? Why should that matter?
I read an interesting article the other day about the importance of authors reading books – even if they don’t like to read. Does that strike anyone else as very strange-- Not the importance of reading, but an author not liking to read? How can an author write a compelling story and expect readers to enjoy their work if they don’t enjoy reading? Mind boggling. Reading for indieBRAG gives a reader an opportunity to analyze both the good and not so good attempts at writing a worthy book. I have often been told by authors that after reading a book for indieBRAG they have gone back to change things in their current works. It is not uncommon to find things they don’t particularly like only to realize they have committed the same error in their writing. So, you see, it isn’t important to only read the great classics, but to also learn from those who are trying to appeal to your audience as an author. Stephen King has also said in his book on writing: “The real importance of reading is that it creates an ease and intimacy with the process of writing… Constant reading will pull you into…
One Reader’s Voice Out Loud with Terri
Our readers are the foundation of what makes indieBRAG unique. They not only select the books to become the next B.R.A.G. Medallion Honoree but give feedback to our authors. This feedback is important not only to the authors but to the reader as well. Readers carry a lot of weight in what we regard as quality in self-publishing. Not only that but how readers see author’s platforms and performance on social media. Today Terri shares with us a little about her reading habits, reviewing books, how she finds books, book covers, and much more. Thank you, Terri for sharing with us today. First please tell us about your reading interest. How do you choose a book to read? I choose a book to read either by recommendation, reading a short synopsis, or the book falls into a genre I enjoy. How much does the cover and title matter? The cover and title surprisingly matter to me at least. I believe an interesting title and cover give an immediate visual to the book and story. Without that, I typically won't pick up a book to see what the story is about. When selecting a book, do you check who or how…
2017 indieBRAG Cover Contest Summary
indieBRAG held their 2017 Cover Contest and had a great turn out of votes. Johnny Big Ears by John Paul Padilla is the overall winner of the contest. What makes a great cover and what are readers and book bloggers opinions about them? Do the covers really matter when deciding if a reader is going to read the book or not? Does the cover help the reader imagine the setting and period of the story in their minds? What do readers not like in books covers and do they consider the covers as part as their rating when reviewing books? To get a picture of these questions, I interviewed the indieBRAG Interview Team Members and you will find their opinions and taste in covers insightful. Interview with Lisl Zlitni Interview with Erin Davies Interview with Colleen turner Interview with Magdalena Johansson Interview with Charla White Interview with Heather Campbell Be sure to visit indieBRAG’s Home Page to view the genre/category winners in the 2017 Cover Contest! The overall opinion of the team is that book covers do matter and play a big role deciding if they will read the book or not. I’d like to thank the team for taking…
The Importance of Book Covers: Interview with Heather Campbell
Book cover layouts play an important role in the overall presentation of stories, and often times readers first judge a book by its cover. This year indieBRAG has put together a cover contest of books chosen by the indieBRAG Team. These covers were chosen based on several factors including; 1) professionalism 2) visual appeal 3) creativity and 4) fit with the story/genre. We have asked the ladies of the indieBRAG Interview Team to discuss with us the importance of book covers, what they like, want to see more of and so on…Today Heather Campbell talks with us about this. On the scale one to five, how important are book covers to you? I would say a 4. If I'm buying in store it is still the thing that makes me pick it up. If I'm just browsing online it's less important, but seeing a friend share a great book cover will still make me go look it up. Why are they important to you? It's all about what catches my attention primarily, but it also shows value, especially if it's independently published, that the author/publisher spent the time to make their book look polished. What do you not like in book covers? After…
The Importance of Book Covers: Interview with Charla White
Book cover layouts play an important role in the overall presentation of stories, and often times readers first judge a book by its cover. This year indieBRAG has put together a cover contest of books chosen by the indieBRAG Team. These covers were chosen based on several factors including; 1) professionalism 2) visual appeal 3) creativity and 4) fit with the story/genre. We have asked the ladies of the indieBRAG Interview Team to discuss with us the importance of book covers, what they like, want to see more of and so on…Today Charla White talks with us about this. On the scale one to five, how important are book covers to you? 5 (very important) Why are they important to you? The design draws me in and shows me whether the book was important enough to the author to have it done properly and what type of tone the book is taking (i.e. if the cover has a light fun type cover, then I know that’s the tone of the book; if it’s a commonly used stock cover, then I don’t look at it too closely – and this goes for both physical copies and ebooks). What do you not like in book…
The Importance of Book Covers: Interview with Magdalena Johansson
Book cover layouts play an important role in the overall presentation of stories, and often times readers first judge a book by its cover. This year indieBRAG has put together a cover contest of books chosen by the indieBRAG Team. These covers were chosen based on several factors including; 1) professionalism 2) visual appeal 3) creativity and 4) fit with the story/genre. This week we have asked the ladies of the indieBRAG Interview Team to discuss with us the importance of book covers, what they like, want to see more of and so on…Today Magdalena Johansson talks with us about this. Magdalena, on the scale one to five, how important are book covers to you? Oh, definitely 5. There are quite a lot of books out there and if you want to capture my attention, have a nice cover. The risk is otherwise that I will miss the book. Why are they important to you? The cover is the face out. When one browse books, whether it's online or in a bookstore is it the cover that captures your interests first. Well, at least mine. What do you not like in book covers? Computerized figures, people that look like they belong in…
The Importance of Book Covers: Interview with Erin Davies
Book cover layouts play an important role in the overall presentation of stories, and often times readers first judge a book by its cover. This year indieBRAG has put together a cover contest of books chosen by the indieBRAG Team. These covers were chosen based on several factors including; 1) professionalism 2) visual appeal 3) creativity and 4) fit with the story/genre. This week we have asked the ladies of the indieBRAG Interview Team to discuss with us the importance of book covers, what they like, want to see more of and so on…Today Erin Davies talks with us about this. Erin, on the scale one to five, how important are book covers to you? Three Why are they important to you? They catch the eye in an overly saturated market and they often offer insight to the story without reading the blurb. What do you not like in book covers? Headless (and arguably brainless) women, gaudy text, and authors' names that are larger than the title of the book. What would you like to see more of in covers? Men. I know, back on my damned soapbox, but hear me out. I'd like to more multi-faceted male models. So often they…
The Importance of Book Covers: Interview with Colleen Turner
Book cover layouts play an important role in the overall presentation of stories, and often times readers first judge a book by its cover. This year indieBRAG has put together a cover contest of books chosen by the indieBRAG Team. These covers were chosen based on several factors including; 1) professionalism 2) visual appeal 3) creativity and 4) fit with the story/genre. This week we have asked the ladies of the indieBRAG Interview Team to discuss with us the importance of book covers, what they like, want to see more of and so on…Today Colleen Turner talks with us about this. Colleen, on the scale one to five, how important are book covers to you? I would say a 4...I love a great cover! Why are they important to you? The first thing that will draw my attention to a book is the cover. If it can catch my eye with his pop of color, detailing, etc. then I'm always going to pick it up and at least read the back of the book to see if it sounds like something I would enjoy. What do you not like in book covers? I don't like too bland a cover...I need…
Importance of Book Covers: Interview with Lisl Zlitni
Book cover layouts play an important role in the overall presentation of stories, and often times readers first judge a book by its cover. This year indieBRAG has put together a cover contest of books chosen by the indieBRAG Team. These covers were chosen based on several factors including; 1) professionalism 2) visual appeal 3) creativity and 4) fit with the story/genre. This week we have asked the ladies of the indieBRAG Interview Team to discuss with us the importance of book covers, what they like, want to see more of and so on…Today Lisl Zlitni talks with us about this. Lisl, on the scale one to five, how important are book covers to you? I’d probably say in between four and five. Though I add the caveat that there have been books with solid color covers I’ve enjoyed. If a work’s premise appeals to me, I won’t not read it because of a dull jacket, but it is so that such a cover lessens the chances I’ll be drawn closer and discover the richness between the pages. Why are they important to you? A fantastic cover often draws me to a book, even from across a room (or…
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Most Discussed Posts
- Fact to Fiction - The Eternal and the Holy
- "The Child, the best immigrant"
- The Journey to Holy Parrot
- What inspires an award-winning tale?
- Fire in the Cascades!
- From Ruins to a Shining City!
- Your First Chance!
- The Blurb- Buy or not to Buy
- On the road with Apple Turnovers!
- Grab a Meat Pie and travel back in time!
- A closer Look
- Egyptian Jews- a Culinary Community
- What do you know about self-publishing?
- The Plague!
- Trucking Together!
- A conundrum!
- Memories of the Deli-
- Time Travel
- A Trip into Medieval England
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