Tag Archives | indie

Four steps to purchasing Indie books successfully.

By on June 7, 2012 in publishing industry, social media

I’m so excited to celebrate Indie authors this coming Fourth of July!

But first we have to find them. Read on to find out how!

 

It doesn’t matter what forums I go to the debate of self publishing is there, constant, whining like a mosquito in my ear.

“I stay away from free books.”

“Writers self publish because they couldn’t make it traditionally.”

“It’s all crap.”

This might be true in some cases. But the Indelibles wanted a way to change the stigma, to show that great Indies or Self Publishers – whichever you prefer – exist. So we created this INDIEpendence Day event to showcase these high quality books.

You can read all the rules and sign up at the Indelibles. We’d love for you to join us! And it can be a self published or small press book. What a great way to pay it forward and show the love!

How to sift through all the books and find the nuggets.

  1. Go to a traditional or self published book you love on Amazon. Click on the customers also bought and scroll through. Usually the self published books are 4.99 and lower but not always. I’ve also found some on Pixel of Ink, my Twitter feed, book bloggers, the Amazon free lists and paid lists…etc.
  2. Download a sample to preview later or click on the book and read the first pages. You know your tastes and the style you like.
  3. Read the reviews – specifically the 3 and 4 star ones. Look for the constructive criticisms not the rude ones. Are the downsides something you don’t mind?
  4. Purchase or don’t purchase. It’s that simple.

Of course, no matter how a book is published we might love opening pages and the reviews and then halfway through the book lose that lovin’ feeling. But in the opening pages you should be able to tell if the writing is up to par and a style you’ll enjoy. I know this process is really simple but by following it I’ve enjoyed almost every single self published and/or small press and/or traditionally published I’ve purchased.

So if you’ve recently read a small press or self published book I invite you to join us in paying it forward. Sign up here. And everyone who participates will be entered in for a prize. There’s a nifty Linky Link way to sign up!

How do you find books?

 

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What makes a novel one from the heart? To Ride a Puca.

By on June 5, 2012 in guest posts

I hear this phrase often: the novel from the heart. We all have one. Maybe we’ve written it. Maybe we haven’t. Maybe we’re holding off until we feel up to the challenge. When fellow Indelible, Heather McCorkle talked about her novel from the heart – I wanted to know more!

 

Could you tell us about your book in one sentence?  

The last of the druids in ancient Ireland face what could be their final battle for their homeland.

How is it connected to the Channeler novels?

This is a companion novel to the channeler series. Meaning, it’s a complete novel in itself. One doesn’t need to read the channeler series at all to read this book. It’s about one of the main character’s ancestors from the channeler series though so fans of it will hopefully love it.

Where did your interest in Irish mythology get started?

Fairy tales, literally! I’ve been fascinated with Irish mythology from a very young age when my parents first read me stories of fairies and leprechauns.

I’ve heard you say that To Ride a Puca is a book of the heart. Could you expand on that? Why is it so special?

It was a tough one to write because it’s very honest where history is concerned, and history often isn’t gentle. The idea for this novel started when I began to research my own Irish lineage and so it was literally born of the heart. The hardships of my ancestors bled onto the page in a very real way for me.

What’s coming up in the future for you? More Channeler novels? Or something new?

Definitely! The final novel in the channeler series will be coming out this fall, Rise of a Rector. After that, I can’t say exactly. But what I can say is that there are two more historicals in my future and some full fledged fantasy novels.

Wow, Heather. This book sounds terrific. I love knowing that someone’s novel is one from the heart. Sounds amazing.

Go to Heather’s blog to enter her giveaways!

Purchase To Ride a Puca at Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

So how many of you out there have a novel from the heart written or yet to be written? Or a novel that you loved so much it became a part of your heart!

 

Comments { 12 }

How I want to be when I grow up.

By on April 26, 2012 in publishing industry

So I had no idea what to expect from the New England SCBWI conference. No clue. This year was different. I was so curious to see if there were any other self publishers. Writers I could talk crazy with about coding and html and marketing and price points. And how’d you do this and how’d you do that. And oh, wow I had trouble with that too….etc. I’ll be honest, I didn’t find too many.

But there were hundreds there and I just might’ve missed ‘em by a few seconds. Who knows?

I’ll tell you a secret that I only admitted to my roomies. I was a little nervous about how I would feel. There’s this little thing I call the residual-effect-of-spending-years-querying-agents-and-thinking-traditional-was-the-only-way-to-go. And I’ll be truthful. I felt it a teensy weensy bit. But it in no way made me doubt the path I’ve chosen.

If there were small twinges, lingering – one conversation took care of it all. Here’s the highlight, my friends. We ran into a long time author who has published with multiple houses, ghostwritten popular series, and is one of the most real people I’ve met. She’s had some great publishing experiences and some not-so-great. She’s self-publishing her backlist. And she encouraged us 100% percent to go for it as far as publishing our own work.

That was cool.

When I grow up and have years behind me in this industry, I want to be like her. Positive. Honest. Encouraging. Friendly. To all writers.

How about you? What do you want to be like twenty years down the road at a conference?

If you’d like to help by posting on May 7th about the official book release of A Spy Like Me, and the start of the Spies, Murder and Mystery Marathon blog series – and you haven’t already signed up – just leave your email in the comments or send me a message through the contact form! I would really appreciate your help!

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