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An interview with Lisa Ard- author of Saving Halloween!

Geri Clouston
  Ms. Ard, I loved reading your book Saving Halloween and would like to ask you a few questions- Ms. Ard: Hello Ava, Thank you so much for reading Saving Halloween. I'm glad you enjoyed it! I'm happy to answer your questions. 1.When did you know you wanted to be a writer? Did you write stories when you were a girl? Although I wanted to be an author as a child, I don't recall writing stories. I did read a lot. It was only after reading to my own children that I decided to give writing a book a try. 2.Do you like Halloween best of all the holidays? Do you dress up and go trick or treating? I do love Halloween! I wait until October 1 to put out my decorations – some I've bought and some have been passed down from my mom and grandmother. I dress up, almost always as a (good) witch and greet kids at the door with candy. I wear my favorite red witch's hat on my school visits too. 3.What kind of books did you like best when you were my age (9)? I loved anything by Roald Dahl, my favorite author. Fantastic…

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indieBRAG Kids

Join us at SPBE in November!

Geri Clouston
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 9TH Come join the fun as we celebrate five successful years as the only exclusive home forself-published books and authors.The Self-Publishing Book Expo is celebrating our 5th Anniversary! This year, in addition to an all-star line-up of some of the most knowledgeable speakers in the business, the Expo will feature some inter-active sessions, and some extended sessions allowing for attendees to have more access to the information they need to successfully publish. We are also introducing a special coffee hour for attendees to mix, mingle, compare notes, and askone-on-one questions of some of our speakers, sponsors, exhibitors and partners. At 12 noon, be sure to join us to discuss- THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY: What Makes a Good Self-Published Book?indieBRAG represents a group of 150 readers who have reviewed 1,000+ self-published titles. They are not editors, publishers, or literary experts; they are simply ordinary people who love to read. Members of the indieBRAG staff will uncover what they have learned in the process of choosing their B.R.A.G. Medallion winners. What does a book need in order to make it worthy of the reading public's time and money? What are the important things to weed out of…

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The Self-publishing World , ,

Hugh Howey Shares His Wisdom!

Geri Clouston
Hugh took the time to share with us as he headed to the Frankfurt Book Fair! Hi Hugh Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with us. One of the things I enjoy and appreciate most in self-publishing is the support authors give to each other - I don't know if that's true in the traditional publishing world but somehow I doubt it. You have said that the journey of your life in the last decade has been the source of true joy, not just because of being a bestselling author – although you have to admit that is pretty spectacular! Your passion for what you do is inspiring but do you think it is possible for someone to become a bestselling author if they view it as strictly a way to get rich? Hugh- I think the chances are very unlikely that anyone becomes a bestselling author, however they go about publishing and whatever their motivations are. The truth is that millions of books are published and very few of them become bestsellers. It's similar to those who play basketball and those who start in the NBA and make the All-Star team. But I don't think that should…

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Words of Wisdom

Congratulations- Sue Fortin!

Geri Clouston
Congratulations Sue! I hope your new publishing deal with Harper Collins is a wonderful and fruitful experience- Thank you, it's very exciting. Since Harper Impulse is digital publishing, will you continue to have a print copy of your book available and, if so, how will that work? Harper Impulse are working on a digital first basis, so although there are no guarantees every title will be published in paperback, there is the scope for it at some point. Many self-published authors are seeking deals with traditional publishers while many are not. What is it that you find appealing about such a deal? Oh gosh, that's a loaded question  It really is a matter of personal choice and for me, there were several reasons. To self-publish proficiently and to a high standard can be quite expensive and I really wouldn't like to add up how much I spent on having my book edited, edited and edited again, together with having the cover professional designed and then the costs of promotion. To do this again for a second novel, I wasn't sure if I could invest so heavily. Another factor, was how wide reaching I could be as an indie author.…

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indieBRAG News! , , ,

5 Facebook Marketing Tips for Authors

Geri Clouston
 Some advice from Blogger and Author Lindsay Buroker on using Facebook-Month after month, Facebook and Twitter are the top sources of traffic for my site (after the Big G and its search engine, of course). If we consider that I spend much less time on Facebook than Twitter (I usually post to my FB author page 3 or 4 times a week, versus using Twitter incessantly throughout the day, because I'm become a tweet-happy addict), then Facebook is the clear winner when it comes to time spent versus results delivered. I should also point out that I don't post links to my site on Facebook very often, so all of this traffic (1,000+ visitors in January out of about 23,000 total) comes via two or three updates a month.And is getting traffic to my site a win insofar as book sales goes? It's hard to say if the folks who come in via social media outlets are buyers (I suspect many have already bought), but it's a rare day that I don't have at least a couple of sales at Amazon (monitored via the affiliate links I provide to my own books) that originate on my blog. Sales aside, I…

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Words of Wisdom

HAPPY HALLOWEEN ALL!

Geri Clouston
  Though the origin of the word Halloween is Christian, the holiday is commonly thought to have pagan roots. October 31 – Nov 1 was seen as the end of harvest and the beginning of the dark days of winter. This was a time when the 'door' to the Otherworld opened enough for the souls of the dead, and other beings such as fairies, to come into our world. Feasts were had, at which the souls of dead kin were beckoned to attend and a place set at the table for them. However, harmful spirits and fairies were also thought to be active. People took steps to allay or ward-off these harmful spirits/fairies. Wearing costumes may have originated as a means of disguising oneself from these harmful spirits/fairies. In the Christian tradition, it was believed that the souls of the departed wandered the earth until All Saints' Day, and All Hallows' Eve provided one last chance for the dead to gain vengeance on their enemies before moving to the next world. In order to avoid being recognized by any soul that might be seeking such vengeance, people would don masks or costumes to disguise their identities. In Halloween: From Pagan…

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From Fact to Fiction!

Teens Are Not Reading!

Geri Clouston
    "There's been an enormous investment in teaching kids to read in elementary school-Kids are doing better at 9, and at 11. At 13, they're doing no worse, but then there is a catastrophic fall-off. ... If kids are put into this electronic culture without any counterbalancing efforts, they will stop reading."NEA chairman Dana Gioia Let's face it, parents have to take a lot of the blame. No one wants to hear this but far too few parents turn off the TV or computer and pick up a book themselves. It is our job to set the example. Take some time to talk to your kids about a great book and not the latest Lindsey Lohan gossip! Here's a plan- next time your kids say they are bored, and who doesn't here that a hundred times a week?, hand them a book. Next time you are working around the house, give them 2 choices, help or read. Want to bet they will read! I bought my 9 year old granddaughter a Kindle with a pretty pink cover. A lot of our relationship revolves around books- picking books, sitting together on the porch reading, reading interesting or funny passages to…

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The World of Reading , ,

Top Ten Things A Self-Published Author Hears At A Cocktail Party

Geri Clouston
    10. "You're an author? ... Really!?" 9. "What have you written? ...Never heard of it!" 8. "Who's your publisher? ... Oh. I see." 7. "So what's your book about? ... I never read that stuff." 6. "What else have you written? ...I don't like that either." 5. "How come I haven't seen your books in Barnes and Noble? ... What's an eBook?" 4. "Is there any money in this? ... That much? Wait...that's what you've spent!" 3. "Then how much have you made? ... "You're kidding, right?" 2. "Why're you still doing this? ... Have you ever tried root canals?" 1. "Well, good luck. ... Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while."

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The Self-publishing World

Shocked By Rejection?

Geri Clouston
    As you might imagine, some of the self-published authors whose books were rejected by indieBRAG readers are not happy. Fortunately, I am pleased to report that only a few of them have taken the time to berate us! The brutal fact is that many indie books have no chance at all of getting through our initial screening process, let alone being read by our reading team - they have poorly conceived stories and/or are badly written. These books are invariably rejected by most, if not all, of the readers who review them. However, occasionally we must reject a book with regret. These are books with really good stories but are in desperate need of professional editing- either content or copy editing or both. To have a book that is worth a reader's time and money, an indie author needs to do everything they can to fine tune and perfect their work. A great story poorly edited is a real shame. We recently rejected a book that the author said was going to be made into a film. This is wonderful news for the author but having a book made into a screenplay doesn't change the basic facts about…

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Words of Wisdom , ,

A Theft of Opportunity!

Geri Clouston
  This is a very interesting article on an unknown author making it big but, the real story is the damage to publishing being done by this mega merger between Penguin and Random House. As the New York Times Editorial Board states, the more opportunities to get your book before a publisher and the more diverse the publishing, the better chance an unknown author has of getting his book before the public. They are limiting the competition, lessening the opportunities for authors and robbing the reading public of some really good books! 47 Rejections, Then the Booker Long ListBy THE EDITORIAL BOARDPublished: July 31, 2013 Donal Ryan, a civil servant from Limerick, Ireland, wrote two novels. He sent them to agents and publishers and got back 47 rejections over three years. Finally an intern at Lilliput Press in Dublin fished "The Thing About December" out of the slush pile. Around the same time, an editor at Doubleday Ireland took interest in "The Spinning Heart." Suddenly Mr. Ryan had a two-book deal, and from there his fortunes only improved. The Booker Foundation announced last week that "The Spinning Heart" had made the cut for the Man Booker Prize long list.Such things…

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The Self-publishing World

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