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A conversation with Bestselling Author Colleen Hoover

Geri Clouston
COLLEEN HOOVER Colleen lives in Texas with her husband and their three boys. She released her debut novel, SLAMMED, in January 2012 and the follow-up novel, POINT OF RETREAT, in February, 2012. Both books have been optioned for film as of October, 2012. Her bestselling Romance novel Hopeless has been on the New York Times E-Book Best Sellers list for 20 weeks! indieBRAG: Thank you, Colleen, for spending this time with us. Colleen Hoover: Thank you so much for having me. iB: You have written three very successful books in the Romance genre. I wonder if an author sets out to write in a specific genre or do they just write the book that is in them? In your case, did you choose the genre first and then create the book, or was the story already in your mind and it just happened to fit that genre? CH: When I began writing SLAMMED, I didn't even think about where it might fit if I tried to sell it. I wrote the book thinking I was going to be the only one to read it besides a few family members. Once the book was complete and I decided to upload it…

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A great shout out of thanks to all of our fans and friends!

Geri Clouston
As we approach our first anniversary, the B.R.A.G.Medallion has become recognized as a symbol of great reading. Our reading team now numbers more than 100, representing 10 countries around the world. These dedicated men and women read tirelessly on our behalf, in our search through the rapidly expanding inventory of self-published books, to find those that are worth a reader's time and money. The number of authors seeking to be honored with the B.R.A.G.Medallion has grown so large, and so robust, that we have decided to close unsolicited nominations temporarily. This will allow us to ensure that the books on our reading list get the full attention they deserve. We are proud of the fact that by the first anniversary of our launch on April 4, 2013, we will have honored our 100th book! Congratulations to all our medallion-honored authors - we will continue to do all we can to bring attention to your wonderful work! The indieBRAG Team Find a book that is worth your time and money!

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Bob Mayer, bestselling author, talks audio books-

Geri Clouston
Bob Mayer is a West Point Graduate, Former Green Beret, CEO of Cool Gus Publishing and a NY Times Bestselling Author. He has had over 50 books published. He has sold over four million books, and is in demand as a team-building, life-changing, and leadership speaker and consultant for his Who Dares Wins: The Green Beret Way concept, which he translated into Write It Forward: a holistic program teaching writers how to be authors. He is also the Co-Creator of Cool Gus Publishing, which does both eBooks and Print On Demand, so he has experience in both traditional and non-traditional publishing. Thank you so much Bob for giving us some of your experience and wisdom on audio books. The latest sales figures tell us that ebooks significantly out number print books and that the latest trend is to have audio books. You have stated that this has been quite successful for you. We really appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts with us and answer some questions. 1. Why do an audio book? It can be rather costly.I use the ACX program, which is a really well run system. I've invested over $50,000 in producing 30 audio books…

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Quail Fried Rice – Jill Carroll

Stephanie Hopkins
Author Interview: Jill Carroll I am a freelance writer and scholar who lives with my partner, Nishta Mehra, and our son in a suburb of Houston, Texas.  I hold a Ph.D. from Rice University in philosophy of religion and spent much of the last 25 years as a university professor and scholar.  I left academe 4 years ago and now work as a freelance journalist for the Houston Chronicle, as a program consultant for the American Leadership Forum-Houston/Gulf Coast, and as a speaker/expert on topics of religious diversity in America.  I also write fiction–Quail Fried Rice is my first novel.Read the entire interview at: www.layeredpages.com Please tell me about your book, "Quail Fried Rice." Quail Fried Rice is a love story featuring two middle-aged, professional women who end up in the same small West Texas town due to varying life circumstances.  The novel explores the themes of life transition, dealing with change and death, living a life of meaning, and finding true love.  Although it's a love story between two women, its written is such a way that it appeals to a broad audience.  Many of my readers are heterosexuals (both women and men) and they have given it positive…

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Authors' Chat

Book Trailers- are they worth it?

Geri Clouston
I have read a lot about book trailers, and I have watched my share of them, and here is my final thought on whether they are worth it – I don't know! There seems to be little evidence that book trailers help sell books. I enjoyed watching some of them and a few actually got me interested in taking a look at the book. However, in general, most looked amateurish; they were just a slideshow with music. They were more helpful if I went to the book's website first and then watched the video. In other words, they did not grab my attention on their own; rather they simply added to my overall interest in the book. But the point is I'm not sure they would encourage me to actually buy the book. Obviously, I am biased but I do enjoy being able to click on a book trailer when I go to one of our B.R.A.G.MedallionTM Honoree detail pages. But, there again, I have already sought the book out and I know it is well worth the investment of my time and money. So here is what I think- A book trailer is a nice enhancement to all the…

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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…

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Throwing Clay Shadows – Thea Atkinson

Stephanie Hopkins
Author Interview: Thea Atkinson Thea Atkinson is a writer of character driven fiction; call it what you will: she prefers to describe her work as something akin to the left of mainstream. Her characters often find themselves in the darker edges of their own spirits but ultimately manage to find the light they seek. She has been an editor, a freelancer, and a teacher, but fiction is her passion. She now blogs and writes and twitters. Not necessarily in that order. Read the entire interview at: www.layeredpages.com Thea, congrats on winning the BRAG Medallion for your book, Throwing Clay Shadows. Please tell me a little about your book. TCS began as part of a larger 3 time framed novel. Because it had reincarnation theories as its base, it explored the lives of five characters over three lifetimes and how they connected. It was really way too large a project to be considered a single novel. When I began to self publish through ebooks, I broke the book into pieces because I realized they could stand alone and not be connected to each other. TCS became a single novel about a girl who loses her mother in 1800s Scotland. Maggie comes…

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Authors' Chat

# 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, there…

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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 #1We will be offering some information about writing a respectful and responsible review.BLOG #2We 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 write a good…

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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 out there to new audience…

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