indieBRAG Blog

Subscribe

Hot Air Balloons during the Civil War

Geri Clouston
By Christopher Zuniga The Union and the Confederate armies both used Hot Air Balloons for spying during the Civil War. The first person to receive an order to build an Hot Air Balloons for the Union army was John Wise. In April of 1861 Murat Hasket wrote a letter to the U.S. treasury Salmon D. that the U.S. should create a balloon corps to use as a spying devise under Thaddeus Lowe's command. On July 17, 1861 Abraham Lincoln agree to form a balloon corps. During this time the opposing side tried to shoot down the spying balloon. After Lincoln heard that, he ordered Lowe to build four more additional balloons. The balloons that Lowe made were measured to be from 32,000 ft to 15,000 ft and were also able to climb up to 5,000 ft into the air. One of Lowe balloons was shot down on November 16, 1861. Lowe was not keeping orders so he resigned from balloon corps on May 8, 1861. By August 1861 the corps disbanded. Lowe also designed an aircraft carrier that was used to transport hot air balloons and allow them to be used in areas closer to the battles. They would launch…

Read More

From Fact to Fiction! , , ,

# Authors, Reviews, Trolls and the fight goes on!- Part 2

Geri Clouston
Our previous blog on "Reviews" triggered a great conversation. In this, the second blog on the subject, we offer authors some thoughts on dealing with negative reviews. I hope you will join us again and share your thoughts and experiences- 1. Take negative reviews into consideration. The reviewer just may be right! Well-¬written and thoughtful critical reviews can be helpful – painful, but helpful. Be open-minded. Listen. Read. Be willing to consider the opinion of others. In the end, you may still disagree but you may also gain some valuable learning. 2. Respond to fair-minded reviews. It is always nice to thank someone who takes the time to read and critique your book. You should do this even if you disagree with the review but be gracious, and NEVER enter into an emotional, heated discourse. No-one benefits and more times than not, it turns personal and ugly. 3. Consider reviewing books for other authors. This is the best way to create the "word of mouth" buzz that all authors want. In turn, your reviews may encourage others to review your book. But always be objective and professional. Never gush or attack; both are equally amateurish. 4. Ignore the "trolls". Unfortunately,…

Read More

Words of Wisdom, Writers, Readers & Self Publishing , , ,

Authors, Reviews, Trolls and the fight goes on!

Geri Clouston
Wow! It seems the entire literary community is on fire about reviews and alleged "troll" attacks. First, let me say that indieBRAG does not depend on reviews for several very good reasons. A well-written review by a reviewer who genuinely cares about books is a valuable source of information – favorable or not. However, there are more than a few people out there who use this venue just to be mean and disagreeable. Others try to show their higher level "intellect" by picking any book apart. They believe that to critique means simply to find fault. As evidence of this I should note that even the universally acclaimed book, To Kill A Mockingbird, has received one star reviews! BLOG #1 We will be offering some information about writing a respectful and responsible review. BLOG #2 We will also be offering authors some advice and, hopefully, help in dealing with negative reviews. So here we go, be sure to join the conversation- Reviewers first- Our B.R.A.G. interviewer and a book reviewer from www.layeredpages.com Stephanie Moore: The most important thing to do when reviewing is to read the book first of course. You must understand what you are reading in order to…

Read More

Words of Wisdom, Writers, Readers & Self Publishing , ,

Audio Books-The Next New Thing! Part 1.

Geri Clouston
Here are a few highlights from the 2011 Association of American Publishers report: Total book sales in all categories hit $805.7 million • Hardcover books fell 11.3% • Paperbacks fell 19% • eBook sales increased 115.8% • Downloaded audio books increased 8.8% to $6.5million. • The fastest growing category in the iTunes App store – books! For those of you who may be skeptical about audio books – I should point out that it was just a few short years ago that no one believed eBooks would ever catch on! If you put audiobooks into your search you will find HUNDREDS of companies getting into the audiobook production business. You no longer see "never" when readers are asked how often they listen to audiobooks; everyone is now ready and willing to give audiobooks a try. The past stigma about listening to books is long past. Listeners are no longer lazy but busy! We now use audiobooks while our hands are doing other things. After all, listening to stories has been part of every culture, teaching us and entertaining us, from the beginning of time. Audiobooks are here and growing in popularity, they are the next means of getting your book…

Read More

Words of Wisdom, Writers, Readers & Self Publishing , , ,

A chat with best selling author Addison Moore

Geri Clouston
  Addison Moore is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author who writes contemporary and paranormal romance. Previously she worked as a therapist on a locked psychiatric unit for nearly a decade. She resides on the West Coast with her husband, four wonderful children, and two dogs where she eats too much chocolate and stays up way too late. When she's not writing, she's reading. Addison's Celestra Series has been optioned for film by 20th Century Fox. Thanks you so much Addison for sharing your thoughts and experiences on self-publishing with us. It is encouraging to us all to see wonderful self-published authors, such as you, get the attention they deserve! I am sure the readers and authors at indieBRAG will appreciate your input- First of all, why did you self-publish? Did you try to get a traditional publishing deal? I started self-publishing in 2011, ironically after I procured my dream agent. I was deterred by how long it would take to get a traditional book into the market and I wanted to write more than a book a year. Did you use professional help for story or copy editing, cover design or in other ways? My husband…

Read More

Words of Wisdom, Writers, Readers & Self Publishing , , , ,

To KDP or not – that is the question!

Geri Clouston
A blog piece by Jim Kukral at the Huffington Post on the subject of KDP Select gave me food for thought and I began researching other points of view on this very popular means for indie authors to sell their books. As Mr. Kukral points out, there are two very strong sides to this issue. I think the big question is "making money" versus "building an audience". Many of our B.R.A.G. Medallion Honoree authors take advantage of KDP and utilize the opportunity to give their books away for free for a limited time. They get a bit of boost in sales and make a bit of money in the process. The question is – does this actually build their audience? As this article states, those who seek out free book downloads are not particularly loyal readers and may do little talking about or reviewing of books. I do not know the statistics, but I wonder how many authors who take advantage of KDP actually build a big following? Sales on Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Sony eReader and other means of reading eBooks arguably do not match the sales that amazon.com does. On the other hand, by placing their book on…

Read More

The Self-publishing World, Writers, Readers & Self Publishing , , , ,

The Art of Social Media

Geri Clouston
  The Art of Social Media for Self-Publishing Authors Most if not all self-publishing authors do not have publicists to promote their work. Therefore, you must work diligently to have your books noticed. Social Media is a crucial key to networking and to publicize your book. You must be willing to put forth the time, but it is well worth the effort if done correctly. Companies such as BRAG are a wonderful example of on-line promoting and networking. If you are a BRAG Medallion Honoree, share to the world that you are! Share BRAG's website to other sites, talk about what it means to be a BRAG Honoree. When needing reviews, have legitimate reviewers read your book other than just family and friends. You need readers who will be objective and who could give their honest opinion and to give constructive criticism- when needed. Encourage reviewers to post their reviews on various sites, including book forums. On-line interviews are another tool for promoting your book. Holding interviews also gives the chance for the reader to feel more connected to you. Readers are more likely to buy your book if they know a little about you and what your interest is.…

Read More

Words of Wisdom, Writers, Readers & Self Publishing , , , ,

How much to charge for your (soon to be bestselling) ebook

Geri Clouston
There's a short answer to this question but I'm going to make you read through the whole article to find out what it is. Don't worry; it's less than five hundred words, so it won't take long. When I released my first book "My Temporary Life" in December 2011 I priced it at $4.99. Based on other books out there this seemed like a reasonable price. I sold a few books but I knew there were others selling a lot more, and I believed in my book. So, I tried a .99 cent sale to try and get the ball rolling and perhaps find a reader base that would spread the word to other potential readers. I advertised my promo on Facebook and Goodreads and I sold a few more, but still not enough. Then, I discovered KDP Select. I enrolled in KDPS and ran a free promotion. During the promotion I gave away fifty thousand ebooks and afterwards, based on research I'd done checking out other Indie ebooks I priced my book at $3.99. Over the next few months I sold over twenty thousand books at $3.99. Bingo, I'd found my perfect price-point. After a few months, when sales…

Read More

Words of Wisdom, Writers, Readers & Self Publishing , , , ,

Finding Emma & the Missing Children Society

Geri Clouston
Missing Children's Society of CanadaWhen six-year-old Tania Murrell disappeared from Edmonton, Alberta, in 1983, the search efforts for her receivednational media attention and inspired the first non-profits in Canada dedicated to the search for missing children.These first search agencies focused on public awareness and prevention programs. With the exception of posterdistributions, little attention was put on the actual search for missing children or on support of searching families.Out of this need to do more for searching families, the Missing Children Society of Canada was created in 1986.Since that time, MCSC has assisted law enforcement and searching families in thousands of cases.The 2011 year marks our 25th anniversary of continuing the search for missing children. As we look to our future, weare as driven as ever to continue the search for our missing children.Looking Back on our 25 Year Legacy1986May 25th is officially declared "National Missing Children's Day" in Canada by then Solicitor General Perrin Beatty.In November 1986, the MCSC was created by our founder and first Executive Director, Rhonda Morgan. Wanting totake a more hands-on role in the search for missing children, Rhonda trained to become a licensed professionalinvestigator in 1985. She went on to found MCSC and develop its…

Read More

From Fact to Fiction! , , , ,

The Wars of the Roses and Cecily Neville

Geri Clouston
The fascinating truth behind England's most violent era .Can be seen in The War of the Roses: A Bloody Crown Using historically-accurate, battle-filled re-enactments and interviews with expert historians and noted authors, this definitive documentary series brings to vivid life the captivating true stories behind Britain's bloody civil wars. The Trailer Cecily Neville - The great-granddaughter of one king, Edward III of England (and his wife Philippa of Hainault); was the wife of a would-be king, Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York; and the mother of two kings: Edward IV and Richard III. Cecily Neville's husband was Richard, Duke of York, the heir to King Henry VI and protector of the young king in his minority and later during a bout of insanity. Richard was the descendant of two other sons of Edward III: Lionel of Antwerp and Edmund of Langley. Cecily was first betrothed to Richard when she was nine years old, and they married in 1429 when she was fourteen. in 1460, Cecily and Richards son, the future Edward IV, won the battle at Northampton, taking Henry VI prisoner. Richard, Duke of York, returned to claim the crown for himself. Edwards Queen, Margaret and Richard compromised, naming Richard protector…

Read More

From Fact to Fiction!, Writers, Readers & Self Publishing ,

Most Shared Posts

 

 

Most Discussed Posts

Blog Categories