One Reader’s Voice Out Loud With Stuart
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 Stuart shares with us a little about his reading habits, reviewing books, how he finds books, and much more. Thank you, Stuart for sharing with us today. indieBRAG: How do you find books and what do you think of social media and books? Via a variety of routes. As a bibliophile, I have a tendency to buy more books than I have time to read, so my shelves currently hold around 120 volumes I have yet to read. Also, I review on my website, so I’m often approached by authors, their agents, or their publishers, to read/review books. I’m as selective with these as with any other: sometimes books offered leave a lot to be desired! I use Goodreads, and recommendations come via that site. Sometimes another…
One Reader’s Voice Out Loud with Peter
One Reader’s Voice Out Loud With Susan
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 we are talking with Susan. Susan, how do you choose a book to read? Choosing a book to read is the beginning of an adventure and what I hope is a great relationship between me, the characters and the author. Which title is appealing? Does the opening paragraph grab me? Does the last paragraph conclude the book well? (Yes, I’m a peeker at the end of the book!) Does the author’s bio contain a tidbit that brings me closer to that person? Do I know and like other works of the author or has the book been recommended by a friend or website that I like, such as indiebrag. How much does the cover and title matter? A good cover will make me pick up the book.…
One Reader’s Voice Out Loud with Lisl
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 we are talking with Lisl. Lisl, how do you find books and what do you think of social media and books? I often find books in a series of links, that is to say reading one work might lead me to another. But I also browse bookshops and libraries, or see books mentioned online or by people in real life. Do you go to an author's website or social media when looking for a book or do you usually pick a book based on a search on sites such as Amazon? I almost never take up any recommendations put forth by Amazon, though it has happened that I’ve seen a book there that ends up on my TBR. However, this is in the minority of instances. Also,…
One Reader’s Voice Out Loud with Jack
Thank you for joining us in giving Readers a voice! You have been one of our earliest and most dependable readers and I think you thoughts are helpful to us at indieBRAG and authors- IndieBRAG: How do you choose a book to read? When I choose a book to read I usually have a topic or period of time in mind. I especially like medieval and ancient times. So I will search an online book seller with something like, “1314 Scotland Books”. This usually brings up a list of books of the right approximate time and place. I skim down through the list speed reading titles and glancing at covers. When a cover catches my eye or a title sounds interesting, then I slow down and read the book description. If it still sounds interesting then I look at the price. If it is more than I feel like spending, then I continue the process until I find a book at the right price point. If I'm shopping in a physical bookstore, my process is much the same. Although before I buy a paper book, I leaf through the book looking at pictures and reading snatches here and there to…
One Reader’s Voice Out Loud with Lauren
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 Lauren shares with us a little about her reading habits, reviewing books, how she finds books, how she regards pricing, giveaways, book covers, and much more. Thank you, Lauren for sharing with us today. First please tell us about your reading interest. I’m an avid reader of Historical Fiction, and have been since I picked up Treasure Island, Little Women, and other classics as a child. That’s more than 40 years of HF reading. (Here I will pause to say that I consider anything set 100 years or more ago to be HF, regardless of whether it was ‘contemporary’ when written. That’s because it’s all about the reader, not the writer. Should I, on reading Dickens or Scott, first research whether this work of his fits into…
WHO is an indieBRAG reader? You might reply…duh, they are people who read for indieBRAG!
WHO is an indieBRAG reader? You might reply…duh, they are people who read for indieBRAG. RIGHT! But to be more precise, they are readers who love books--the same people who are buying your books, authors, so make sure you know them. Many indieBRAG readers are authors themselves who say reading the “good” and the “bad” has immensely helped them with their own writing. Many also have a level of education and experience in the literary field that might impress you, while many do not--but all love reading and are happy to be taking part in the search for good books that deserve attention. They know what they like and what they expect from a book and, lest you think otherwise, they are not undemanding judges. It is their job to be discerning and thoughtful, a role I am proud to say they take very seriously. After all, who better to tell other readers if a book deserves their time and money? We often hear from authors whose books were not chosen to receive a B.R.A.G Medallion (roughly 75% of the books we consider fall into this category). They feel they did everything right: punctuation, grammar, formatting and even professional content…
“Becoming Malka” – Argentinian matzah balls!
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 novels or memoirs 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. Here’s to cooking and reading! With Love, The Argentina Family; Becoming Malka Mirta Ines Trupp Mirta Innes Trupp searches for family history and her identity in her memoir, With Love, The Argentina Family and in her historical fiction, Becoming Malka, works that she describes as the story of a Russian, Argentinian, American and Jewish immigrant. Teachers couldn’t pronounce her name and students couldn’t figure out what group she belonged to. “Here at home, I struggled to find myself within the American tapestry. I was acutely aware of how different we seemed to be from others. Not only were we immigrants, but we didn’t quite fit the mold. … I couldn’t find my niche.” Mirta’s journey becomes literary when she writes With Love, The Argentina Family. When her father begins working for Pan Am, Mirta frequently travels back and forth between the…
Throwing Donuts from Behind a Wall – Marketing your Indie Book Online
How to market your book? Well, the hard part is writing it. After that it’s easy; you just stick it on Amazon and sit back and count the money as it rolls in. Oh wait, I wasn’t asked to write a piece of fiction… So, ignore that first sentence. Except, naively, that is pretty much the way I approached things in the beginning. After all, how can you know, when you’ve just published a book, what to do next? I don’t have a marketing or statistics degree. I’m not naturally ‘pushy’ (and I don’t mean that word pejoratively.) In common with many authors, I suspect, I am an introvert. I communicate by writing, be it books, articles, or messages on Facebook. Face to face, I could no more brazenly ask someone to buy my book than I could gracefully roller-skate backwards whilst wrestling an irate baboon. So this is not a piece about book fairs, organising talks or book signings. I actually live such a long way away from anywhere that few would be worth my while, financially, or logistically. Pavement pounding is not an option for me. But it is possible to market ‘remotely’, and writers, unlike singers or…
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Most Discussed Posts
- 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
- Ahh! Summer Reading & a Lovely Tomato Salad
- Time Travel
- A Memorial Day Special!
- Delicious Savory Onion Pie is paired with this month’s Foodie Lit historical novel, Infants in the Brush.
- “I TRIPLE-dog-dare ya!”
- Handfasting- a commitment by joining hands
- Attention Mainstream & Self-Published Authors!
- Have you ever wondered how snowflakes are made?
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