Gave a 4-star rating to Frozen Heat after it's opening hooked me away from another book. http://nblo.gs/Lbalj
My blog -- Lessons from My Reading -- regular does book reviews, mostly fantasy mass paperbacks.
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Yes! Keeping in mind that we’re discussing e-publishers, I believe that some authors should do so.
I say this because of various reasons:
1. Authors who are poor and cannot afford the costs of self-publishing will have those basic expenses covered.
2. Having the experience of working with professional editors is a huge plus for future work.
3. Gathering contacts within the publisher’s group who can answer questions and give one needed support.
4. A loop where you can start a social media campaign and learn how others like yourself are promoting their work.
5. Those who are young, have a busy family life and have little time to spend on their writing career can get away with only releasing a few books a year.
Now having said this, I have to warn you.
“BE CAREFUL!!!”
“DO YOUR HOMEWORK!!”
Do not go along with just any e-publishing company because they offer you a contract. Check their websites and if they’re unprofessional, take a pass. If their covers aren’t great, take a hike. If most of their books are ranking low on the various book sites such as Barnes & Noble and Amazon, run the other way.
One great site for checking all the available publishers is called Preditors and Editors. http://pred-ed.com/peba.htm They’ve compiled fantastic lists for you to use and not only for publishers.
Another site you can check is called “Show me the money” http://brendahiatt.com/show-me-the-money/Brenda Hiatt has done some homework for you and shows clearly which of the companies pay well and those that don’t. (I suggest submitting to those that do!) (DUH! )
From my own experience, this is what I believe happens. Many start-up e-publishers need a stable of authors and lots of product and are willing to take on most anyone just to get started. Chances are they’ll have a low budget and it’s possible their editors won’t be the best which means the editing could be shoddy. If they’re editors are good, how many will they have hired? Therefore turn-around time on getting your books released might be much longer than you expect.
Have they hired a Publicist to not only promote their publishing company, which is important for the readers to find them, but also your books? And how much coverage can each author expect when their book is first released? Does the company have a presence in the Social Media - on Facebook and Twitter? How many followers do they have in both places? How many tweets?
Don’t get me wrong – there are many e-pubs who work hard to help their authors succeed. Some not only provide great covers and good editing but also encouragement, chat rooms, workshops, writing forums and publicity to help their writers gain success.
And all YOUhave to do to ensure good royalty checks is - write one hell of a great book.
Violet Magee A tribute to my mum, Violet (1916 – 2009)
They say that old soldiers never die, they just fade away, but in like manner heroines never die, they begin a new chapter.
Violet, (my mum) was the heroine of From barren rocks to living stones and Paradise island, heavenly Journey. Many who have read the books have spoken of how much they were struck by the fact that she was the one who was crucial in the difficult moments of life. Whether it was the times of sheltering from bombings, living with the experiences of being subject to gunfire, or preparing a family for an evacuation out of the country with half an hour’s notice of gathering essentials, she was the one who made the difference. Her cool and calm exterior was sufficient to bring reassurance to those of us who were accompanying her.
Out with of the books, there are many other examples that reveal the character that made the woman. During the war, she volunteered for the London ambulance service as part of the war effort. Risking her own life for others in the midst of the bombing during the London blitz.
Soon after the 2nd World War, she arrived in Italy as a young mum taking the train journey along the full length of Italy and observing the ruins that lay on both sides of the line. Not the ancient Roman ruins, but the ruins resulting from the allied bombings. Then there was the lack of food experienced not only by the native Italians, but by everyone. The shortages had been severe in the UK during the war, but Italy proved to be worse as she sought to care for the family.
The 1950’s was a decade of voyaging back and forth to the Far East where the family lived for most of the decade. Not by air, but by ship. Six children, and one mum to care for them on the long sea journey as dad had gone ahead due to his service duties with the Royal Air Force. Yes, SIX children.
That was quite handful with a lot of troubles to tend to. I know, I was one of the troubles. There were times of rescuing young children who looked to closely at the fascinating ocean that surrounded them, just in time before they went all the way. There was the searching for a lost child whilst others were preparing to abandon a ship on fire. Worries abound, but undaunted this “super mum” came through with flying colours.
Following on from the books From barren rocks to living stones and Paradise Island, Heavenly Journey, there is clearly a wealth of material waiting to be published as the heroine made her way through the journey of life.
But the last month of her life was to show that there was more to come as she sought to reassure those left behind. She had no fear of the death that lay ahead. She had a strong faith and was confident that this was not the end, but the beginning of a new chapter of life, even if the process of dying was a rough, tough journey. The heroine lives on, but our gratitude for the cool lady who shaped our lives will forever be expressed.
Good morning!
I'm honored to be nominated in the 2012 RONE Awards for Best in Indie publishing! Voting for Week 4 is up May 10 - 16 for three different categories: Fantasy, Paranormal and Time Travel.
My CAPTIVE HERO is up for Best Time Travel
If you've read it and liked it, I can really use your votes! The top 3 with the most votes will be read by industry professionals who will determine the Winner and runner ups.
Here's the link:
http://indtale.com/rone-awards/2012/week-4
Thank you so much for taking the time. Please check out the other categories, too!
I appreciate the support!
~Donna
www.donnamichaelsauthor.com
CAPTIVE HERO--Available Now at Amazon
COWBOY-SEXY—Available Now at The Wild Rose Press & Amazon
HER FATED COWBOY—Available Now at Amazon
HER UNBRIDLED COWBOY--Releasing June 1
We retired a few years ago and decided to relocate. With our two Alaskan Malamutes & two B&W cats we moved from NYC to Salem, MA. In our "past lives," we had a film & TV project development group -- The Woofenill Works, Inc. -- which offered packaging and marketing services to producers, writer & directors. The company utilized the talents, knowledge and input of a Contributing Group of individuals from various areas of the film & TV production industry. But the business changed as it became less open to creativity and more dependent on marketing.
So...once we settle in here in Salem, we intend to novelize and publish some of our own film projects as well as the works of some of our previous Contributors.
Did you realize that if you are contracted to a publisher, this could tie up not only one book but any other novels you might write for that same series?
I know all about that since it happened to me. Thankfully, when I signed my contract with Wild Rose Press it stated that since I was writing a series, they would have first dibs at any new books that went with that specific series only. Anything else I wrote belonged to me alone.
Be careful! Some publishers don’t make it clear, and if you haven’t checked your contract, they could have certain rights over all your work. Then you’d have to change your name …and well... just be careful!
A year and a half ago when I decided to go Indie, I’ve written 8 more books and will soon have a total of 14 available. And they’re mine… all mine… well except for one.
Have you ever written a book so fast that you felt as if the words came to you magically? Like your fingers couldn’t keep up with the flow? It happened to me when I wrote Together for Christmas in two months. I couldn’t wait to see that book published because it was such a miraculous experience. Sadly, it took them well over eight months before it was released.
And that is my last book tied with the publisher. Finally, in November of this year I will get my rights returned. You know why I can’t wait?
#1 - I’ve never liked the cover. From the first time I saw it, it didn’t reflect my vision of the story. But…I had to be nicey-nice and say thank you while swallowing my disappointment. I have no doubt the cover artist did exactly as asked; it just didn’t work for me.
#2 - I have another Vicarage Bench story halfway finished and stopped writing it when I realized I couldn’t release the novel until I had back all my rights for every one of those books. Because as long as I was still under contract, I was legally forced to give them the first chance to publish it.
#3 - I can close that chapter once and for all. *** I will add here that for me at the time it was a very positive step. I was new, inexperienced and naively grateful to be noticed and to have my writing judged and accepted. Without that encouraging feedback, I might not have had the guts to go after self-publishing. So for that I will always be grateful. And… I’m also thankful for the many friends I made and connections that were formed in those years.
Next post - Should some authors sign away their work?
***
A new giveaway! I'm calling it The 12 Days of Reilly.
Each day on my FACEBOOK FAN PAGE, I'll ask a question and when you comment (on my fan page, NOT here) you're entered. At the start of the next day I'll pick 1 winner, then it'll be round two. All winners will get their choice of 1 of my current ebooks. NOT PRINT. So, 12 winners--12 ebooks--1 each day. Sound fun?
Now, go to my FAN PAGE and check out today's question! :)
Samhain Publishing — May 14, 2013
Reilly’s Wildcard (ebook)
Blackwater, Book 4
The most potent lover she’s ever had…and the morning sickness to prove it!
Lucy Rice knew that a night of uninhibited passion with sex-on-a-stick Reilly Jennings would leave a lasting impression on her body. But never in a million years did she expect to see a plus sign appear on that little white stick.
Pregnant? She can’t believe her eyes. When a second test confirms it, Lucy admits the truth. She’s about to be a one-night-stand mommy. How’s that for luck?
Reilly never wanted the responsibility of fatherhood, much less tie himself to an infuriating, headstrong woman like Lucy. Still, his sense of honor won’t let him abandon his baby like his biological parents abandoned him. Yet it isn’t long before he’s captivated by the coming baby—and the mother carrying it.
Lucy is rocked with all sorts of conflicting feelings for the father of her child. Unfortunately, she’s been down that road before, and it left her a blubbering mess. Not again. No way, no how. Except Reilly seems hell-bent on keeping her close. Maybe it’s the hormones, but Lucy’s beginning to forget why that’s a bad idea…
Yes, Master--February 26th!
http://annerainey.com
"Troubles In My Way" is a FICTION Hit Rock Bottom Near Death Drama Suspense Thriller yet Inspirational. It take ONE THING to shatter your dream into tiny small pieces and then you ask yourself, WHAT DO I DO NOW?
**When you were young did you ever think your life could be destroyed...shattered into tiny small pieces...OR you thought you would be on TOP of the WORLD FOREVER!
HOW WOULD YOU HANDLE....child abuse, torment, mistaken identity, broken promises, near death...HOW WOULD YOU HANDLE IT?
HOW WOULD YOU HANDLE IT IF YOU KNEW someone that lived everyday with TRIALS, TRIBULATIONS, TROUBLES....MADE UNWISE CHOICES....LIVED BY SIN....IS A PROSTITUTE....DRUG PUSHER AND USER....ALCOHOLIC....DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IN THE FAMILY WHICH CAUSED A DESTRUCTION BECAUSE OF DIVORCE....USED TO BE A CHRISTIAN BUT "1" THING DESTROYED EVERYTHING....HIGH RANKING STUDENT BUT WENT DOWN DUE TO DRUGS....BETRAYED AND LIED TOO............
You must read "Troubles In My Way" Volume 1....OUR CHOICES DESTROYS SOMEONE WE LOVE EVERY MINUTE OF THE DAY.....IT ONLY TAKE "1" THING TO TEAR DOWN GREATNESS AND IT TAKE "1" THING TO REBUILD GREATNESS....check out my website:http://www.authorviviandlewis.yolasite.com/ The book is fiction but based on REAL LIFE SITUATIONS AND CHALLENGES.........
(there is a hidden message to the story, pay close attention and it will be revealed to you)!
"TROUBLES IN MY WAY", Volume 1 by Author Vivian D. Lewis, is comprised of all of the above....it is VERY EYEOPENING, GRUESOME AND DRAMATIC...REAL LIFE TRIALS, TRIBULATIONS, TROUBLES AND TRIUMPH.....it will leave you speechless....
CAN YOU HANDLE REAL HARD LIFE SITUATIONS OR DO YOU CRACK UNDER PRESSURE....WHAT DO YOU DO....MY BOOK WILL ENLIGHTEN YOU....**FOR REAL**when you start reading it, you will wonder whats next.
purchase at amazon.com, bn.com, authorhouse.com and by calling (210) 548-5666.
So here I am, checking my email and lo and behold I find a link to this wonderful social network. I'm pretty excited about it for its not often that there are networks that I assume cater to authors or artists, so this is quite nice. I first wanted to take the time to introduce myself.
Once upon a time there was this crazy broad named Julie. Yep, she was crazy but in a good way. People had this tendency to call her 'Jewelz, Julie-bird, The Jeweled Canary' etc. which she didn't mind so much. Pet names I suppose but the final nickname became a sort of totem for her. This girl loved to sing as much as she loved to write. Dancing around her house, in the shower, in the middle of Wal-Mart produce section with her two children in tow she'd belt out a song that would resonate through the entire building. She's never had security called on her for it...yet...but she has received countless stares, giggles, and shaking of heads as the common folk of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan walk past.
This woman has such a story to tell though. If you give her the chance, she'd be apt to talk your ear off. She'll tell you the tales and woes of her past battling the monster called Divorce and severing the ties that bound her into a miserable existence. Of her forthcoming rebirth within the arms of her knight in vomit colored PJ's. She'll talk of her struggles through distance and time apart from her love, and how soon her soldier will be returning for good this time. This girl is a dreamer, you see, creating blankets with the yarns that unravel through her subconscious. From pen to paper she draws the reader in like a deep breath and with quite a hypocritical stance on the subject, she has nary a whisper of a care for grammatical faux pas, but meticulously grinds down, and polishes the rough edges of others' work. She takes her time much like a samurai perfecting his form, though she is much too quick in her thoughts to spend too much time on the trivial; always in a hurry and rush in her own life. For others, though, she gives so much time.
Creator of a reinvented household where she learned the tools of her trade and went far beyond that in the literal sense; she reinvented her house and transformed it into a whimsical world full of pleasantries, paint jobs, new cupboards and walk-in closets. From there, architecture and renovation was simply not good enough for her, no, she wanted more (and she was bored) so she started a company with a namesake that plagues the writers of history. The proverbial cinder block to the head upon where the silent dead and dumb reside behind. Writerz Block. From there, she would transform the work of independent authors and dreamers such as herself with the help of her magical friend, Caffeine. These two became inseparable; accomplishing so much that even Time became quite jealous. With their powers combined they wrote, compiled, edited, formatted, and published a book of poetry with none other than Aramey, another kindred spirit. Once the dynamic duo (this Julie chick and Caffeine) had finished this venture, they began on others including following Irony, Karma, and Fate around observing how these three goddesses tormented a tryster among others in epic poetic fashion. They swam within the Faces in Still Waters and became haunted by the spirits and souls within them. They ventured hand in hand in two other books while during a third, reflected upon the past while doling out advice during a warped mental time-traveling excursion (memoir). Unfortunately, they went without a TARDIS and had to foot it. They also didn't have an interpreter available to decipher the scrawling but they made away with it anyway and remembered the peculiarities. They also developed a sort of warped codex. On their adventures, they happened upon other adventurers with their own mega bosses to defeat. So they stopped along these side-quests and lent a hand.
Now, currently this adventurous, perhaps slightly twitchy and overworked individual manages to live her caffeinated life much like a cyborg (it has been said that her energy level far exceeds that of a fictitious pink bunny rabbit who apparently spent copious amounts of time being the wall-flower bandgeek in school, sporting shades and dancing about drumming his drum as she skips to its beat. She and that bunny go waaaaaaay back not unlike Alice as well (no, not the future-seeing sparkly vampire Alice although she's kinda cool too and probably the best out of the lot of them. Well...Jasper's cool too.). Aside from her day job raising two angels (angels in disguise,mind you. Terrible twos and sanity severing six's) she finds other ways of keeping herself too busy to breathe such as taking a few courses on coursera.org to further develop her craft or bragging about (Development and Marketing Director) a miraculous literary magazine, Miracle E-zine.
She looks forward to sleeping roughly once a month which is about two seconds after she collapses into a heap and power naps for 12 hours then wakes up ready to go it again! At 32 years young, tattooed, pierced, and 32 flavors of all kinds of funky, this girl...well...is honestly quite modest yet obscenely quirky. When she does something, she opts for flair because subtlety isn't exactly 'her thing' or so she says.
So this Jeweled Canary takes flight and soars through the mind, body, and soul in search of adventure, personal ethical philosophy and wisdom whether its domesticated adventures or following the jet-stream within the mind. If you close your eyes and listen really closely though, you can probably hear her belting out 'The Sound of Music' as she does the dishes.
Bookpleasures.com is always on the lookout for new reviewers. We are a community of avid readers who receive complimentary books in exchange for reviewing books.
We have been in existence since 2002 and we have posted over 6000 reviews and over 750 author interviews.
Our members come from all walks of life and from all over the globe.
Members of the community receive email requests concerning books to be reviewed and they choose only those that are of interest to them and then write a review (minimum 400 words and 250 words for children's books).
This is a great way to network, improve your writing skills, and receive gift books to pass on or books to receive in all genres from fiction to non-fiction.
Check us out and if interested contact me at bookpleasures@gmail.com
