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How do you make your book a best seller?

Geri Clouston
    A question for the ages and one we have asked many successful authors. The answer we consistently heard was write a good book and the readers will come. But with so much competition for their attention, how do you get your book noticed in the first place? Having a B.R.A.G.Medallion is a great first step. It lets readers know your work is worth their time. Here are just a few other great ways that can help build momentum and get readers interested: • Find your audience in creative ways by aligning with local businesses. Is your book about travel? Take it to your local travel agent and ask them to display it. Did you write a romance novel? Ask a lingerie store to exhibit your book in their window. Did you write about beauty or baking? You know where to go. Use your imagination and the possibilities are endless! If John Grisham sold books out of the back of his car at fairs, you can certainly find a creative way to build your audience also. • Book clubs are a fantastic way to spread the word and get noticed. Ask if you can come to a club and…

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Words of Wisdom , ,

I’m so BORED!

Geri Clouston
  Bored- feeling impatient or dissatisfied, because you are not interested in something or because you have nothing to do. If you want to say you are extremely bored, you can say you are bored stiff/rigid/silly or bored to tears/to death Oh, I'm so bored! What parent hasn't heard her child say "I'm so bored!"? I have a solution – hand your child a book. When I was a child, my mother answered that statement by telling us that being bored only meant your mind had nowhere to go. So, send your brain on an adventure. Once we learned about all the wonderful places we could go, we were never without a book. We all know how busy parents are today - the interesting thing is that giving your child a book doesn't really take so much time! Wouldn't it be wonderful if the only time your child gives you that "Look" is when you tell him or her to shut their book? Kids aren't the only victims of boredom. How many people do you hear lamenting how they couldn't find anything to watch on TV last night? How many of us watch things we don't even have an interest…

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How to Be a Better Writer #5: Master Your Phrases

Geri Clouston
More recently than I'd like to admit, I'd hear "The Joker" by The Steve Miller Band and sing along at the top of my lungs: "Some people call me Maurice (woo woo!) / 'cause I speak to the prophetess of love." That is, until a friend gently pointed out that the line is "'cause I speak of the pompitous of love." Whatever that means... Belt out whatever lyrics you want on karaoke night, but when it comes to your writing, you've gotta get your phrases right. Today, I'm sharing 15 of the top misconstrued phrases, plus the correct ones you should slate in their place. 1) Instead of: Flush outIt's actually: Flesh outTrick: Think of giving an idea more body, fattening it up, making it fleshier. 2) Instead of: Hone inIt's actually: Home inTrick: Picture a homing pigeon returning to its place of origin -- getting to the point. This one's contentious, actually, but linguists generally agree that "home in" came first. If you can't stand that idea, try using another phrase altogether: "zero in." 3) Instead of: For all intensive purposesIt's actually: For all intents and purposesTrick: Just remember you're including all your reasons -- intents and purposes. 4)…

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Editing by Ellie , , , ,

TO VENICE WITH LOVE- JANE BECK

Stephanie Hopkins
Author Interview with Jane Beck Stephanie: Thank you for chatting with me today, Janet and congrats on the B.R.A.G. Medallion for your story, To Venice with Love. Tell me a little about your story. Jane: My heroine Isobel is free for the first time in her life from a philandering ex-husband, the necessity to work and the demands of the family. She decides to take herself to Venice, a place she's longed to visit. She leaves everything behind in an uncharacteristic bid for time on her own, time to be self-indulgent. She meets Rupert, a widower, half-Italian and an architect, before she has left Heathrow, and they discover a mutual love of Venice, which crystallizes into love for each other as he shows her around the city where he lives for half the year. If I were to sum up the story I would say that it is a combination of wishful thinking and an over-active imagination! Venice is a city designed for lovers and it is easy to create an ambiance against which the love story can play out. There would be no novel without tension however and I've used various members of both Isobel and Rupert's families to…

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Authors' Chat

THE SLEEPY STAR -ADRIENNE AUSTERMANN

Stephanie Hopkins
Author Interview with Adrienne Austerman Stephanie: I would like to introduce B.R.A.G. Medallion Honoree, Author Adrienne Austermann. She is an accomplished artist, writer and art educator. As a graduate of the School of Visual Arts in NYC, her career has crossed multiple disciplines which include graphic design, advertising, art direction, writing, and photography. She is an independent blogger for the Huffington Post, and now adds author/illustrator to her resume with the release of her new children's book The Sleepy Star. Please tell me about, The Sleepy Star and what genre it falls under? Adrienne: The Sleepy Star is a hardcover children's bedtime book. It is about a little star who stays asleep while all his friends are playing and has an incredible underwater "dream" adventure. The book was written to promote a positive bedtime routine while maximizing parent/child interaction. The Sleepy Star is as educational as it is entertaining. It is written in rhyming verse with text to visual connections which help to promote word recognition for early reading readiness. The nice surprise in all my feedback to date is how much a book which is categorized as the Juvenile fiction is being enjoyed equally by adults. Stephanie: Is this…

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Authors' Chat

How to Be a Better Writer #4: Revise!

Geri Clouston
                                            Good on you! You've published your novel and it's on digital bookshelves everywhere. Then you get a note from your outspoken cousin Tom. He loves the book...but he found a typo in chapter two. Ugh! Back when all books were ink on paper, you would've been out of luck. Thank goodness it's the Digital Age. Fixing errors is no big deal -- at least in your e-edition. Notice how I said "errors" there? It's entirely possible that Cousin Tom's discovery is the only typo you and your editor didn't catch, but just in case there are others, save your future self some work and proof your published book once more, noting necessary updates as you go. That way, you'll need just one revision. The process takes a little time, and you want your readers (current and future ones alike) to have that flawless copy ASAP. Both Kindle Direct Publishing [link: http://kdp.amazon.com/] and NOOK Press [link: http://www.nookpress.com/] give you the option to make corrections to a published manuscript. Not surprisingly, their services are a little bit different. Here's how each one works. Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP)Updating your Kindle ebook is pretty darn simple. You fix…

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Editing by Ellie , , ,

Beta Readers- What are they!

Geri Clouston
A beta reader is a non-professional reader who reads a written work, generally fiction, with the intent of looking over the material to find and improve elements such as grammar and spelling, as well as suggestions to improve the story, its characters, or its setting. Beta reading is typically done before the story is released for public consumption. Beta readers are not explicitly proofreaders or editors, but can serve in that context. Elements highlighted by beta readers encompass things such as plot holes, problems with continuity, characterisation or believability; in fiction and non-fiction, the beta might also assist the author with fact-checking. Wikipedia ALL writers need outside critique of their work. It is a fact that a writer can seldom edit and proofread his own work. A writer often falls in love with his or her words and plots and is unable to let them go. Beta readers differ from Critique groups in that they usually read on their own and evaluate a book according to their individual experience. Unlike using an editor, those who choose to use Beta readers, usually find them due to their interest in a specific genre and they usually use more than one. One of…

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Words of Wisdom , , ,

LANTAMYRA- SUSAN WATERWYK

Stephanie Hopkins
Author Interview with Susan Waterwyk Stephanie: Hello, Susan! Thank you for chatting with me today and congratulations on the B.R.A.G. Medallion. Please tell me about your story, "Lantamyra: A Tapestry of Fantasy." Susan: Lantamyra is a sanctuary world terraformed by Keepers of Akosh (alien caretakers) to give refuge to endangered sentient beings from two nearby worlds, dragons from Lanluong and humans from Eadlan or Earth as we call her. The dragons are giants, carnivorous, and because they learned the secrets of Akoshic crystal power, they are more intelligent than the human population. However, a few select humans are allowed to learn the secrets of crystal powers and link their minds with the myra crystal. They become keepers or wards of the dragons and serve the three great Houses that rule Lantamyra. Tylya Lansing is the main character (pronounced Ty-lee-ah) a nineteen-year-old that lives in a small town in California. Her grandmother Lenora is a keeper of dragons that was stranded on Earth. After learning her grandmother's secret, Tylya becomes obsessed with finding the crystal scepter lost in a rugged Sierra Nevada canyon. She enlists her boyfriend, Josh Hamilton. and together they find it. Now Lenora can return to Lantamyra, and…

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Authors' Chat

How To Use Real People in Your Writing (Or as Truman Capote said “

Geri Clouston
Scarlett Johansson won a defamation suit against a French writer for creating a promiscuous character who happened to look like the movie star. A Georgia jury awarded $100,000 to a woman who claimed a character in The Red Hat Club falsely portrayed her as an "alcoholic S***." Writers face three big risks when using real people in their writing: defamation, invasion of privacy, and misappropriation of the right of publicity. Yet every fiction writer bases characters on real people. Memoirists and nonfiction writers identify people by name. How can writers use real people in their work without risking a lawsuit? It's not that hard. Common sense and a cool head are key. First, let's start with a quick summary of United States law. (The laws of other countries are more favorable to the targets. In today's Internet environment, you could get sued in France for a blog written in California.) DefamationTo prove defamation, whether libel for written statements or slander for spoken ones, a plaintiff (target) must prove all of the following: False Statement of Fact.   If a statement is true, then it is not defamatory no matter how offensive or embarrassing. Opinions are also protected because they are…

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A BEAUTIFUL GLITTERING LIE-J.D.R. HAWKINS

Stephanie Hopkins
Author Interview Part II with J.D.R.Hawkins Stephanie: I would like to welcome back J.D.R. Hawkins for a follow up interview about her B.R.A.G. Medallion book, "A Beautiful Glittering Lie.". She is an award-winning author who has written for newspapers, magazines, newsletters, e-zines and blogs. She is one of a few female Civil War authors, uniquely describing the front lines from a Confederate perspective. Ms. Hawkins is a member of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, the International Women's Writing Guild, the Mississippi Writers Guild, Rocky Mountain Writers and Pikes Peak Writers. She is also an artist and singer/songwriter. Her two previous novels, A Beautiful Glittering Lie and A Beckoning Hellfire, have received numerous honors and awards. Ms. Hawkins is currently working on a nonfiction book about the Civil War, as well as a Young Adult historical fiction and a memoir. Learn more about J.D.R. here Hello, J.D.R.! Thank you for visiting with me again to talk about your B.R.A.G. Medallion book, A Beautiful Glittering Lie. Please bring readers up to speed about the premise of your story. J.D.R.: The novel is the first in a four-book series, which I call "The Renegade Series." It's a saga about the Summers family…

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