BE MY GUEST: Why Should Authors Blog? By Terra Harmony

These days, it seems like everyone has a blog! Most of the book bloggers (like me!) read and review books and like to promote “Indie” authors by spreading the word about their books through interviews, guest posts and giveaways. But is it enough for an author to market his/her book to the readers? Maybe not! That is why, more and more authors are plunging into the realm of blogging and love to interact with their customers/readers directly through daily blog posts, building fan base much quicker than before!

So, should writers blog? Is it important for authors to have a blog if they want to be “noticed” and survive in this harsh competitive publishing industry where a new writer is born every minute? This is the question I asked Terra Harmony, a debut “Indie” author who blogs about her self-publishing experience. Read what she has to say on this topic. You can always be a part of the discussion by adding comments!

Authors: To Blog or Not to Blog? 

By Author: Terra Harmony 

That is not the question. The question should be more like: Do I start now or five minutes from now? Do I use Wordpress or Blogspot? Do I take the time to put on pants before I set up my blog? Of all the social media tools available to authors, blogging:

- is free

- is easy

- keeps you writing

- gets you networking

- gets you feedback

The first step is to establish your blog's purpose. Does it exist solely to promote your work? Do you plan to join the writing community by blogging the 'how-to's'? Do you intend to share your experiences with writing? Of course, you can do some cross-over, but sticking to the purpose of the blog will result in a steady base of subscribers.

I blog about the self-publishing process. Spawned by the realization that I have a bad memory, I use it to keep track of each step so when I repeat the process, I refer to the blog. As I became aware of the incredibly supportive indie author community, I wanted to contribute. My blog now consists of formatting manuals for Smashwords, Kindle, and Nook, a list of fantasy book review blogger sites, sample contracts for cover artwork, helpful twitter links, instructions on sending out review requests, how to garner attention on reader sites and other creative marketing ideas. When I published my second ebook and what will soon to be my third, I find myself constantly referring back to my blog for information, and hope others do too.

Of course, it would be a wasted opportunity not to at least mention my books, so I keep the cover art and links in a conspicuous place. I have also found keeping links to blog hops toward the top of the site increases subscribers on my blog as well as my book sales.

List of things writers "must" take care of while blogging:


- Be engaging. Give your readers a reason to participate, respond, and react.

- Be responsive. If readers take the time to make a comment; take the time to acknowledge them. Even a quick, 'hey – thanks for the comment' will go a long way.

- Be available. Include information on how to get in touch with you. Give them a way to contact you via e-mail, Twitter, Facebook, etc.

- Be helpful. Readers (unless they are completely infatuated with you), don't want to constantly hear about how much coffee you drank to stay awake to finish that chapter or how cute your cat is. They want information they can use – like links to great giveaways, news about the industry or how to resolve all those pesky e-pub error codes (a planned future blog post of mine by the way).

- Be entertaining. Visiting your blog shouldn't be a chore, even if your readers are all business. Make it fun for them!

So, have you signed up for a blog yet? Remember, pants are not a requirement.

About the Author:

Terra is a debut author with one novel, 'Water', a contemporary eco-fantasy, self-published as an e-book. Its sequel, 'Air', will be published at the beginning of 2012, followed by three more novels to complete the Akasha Series. Terra also currently has one short story, Gleaming White, a vampire paranormal romance, self-published as an e-book. The prequel, Streaks of Red, will be published in November 2011, followed by three more short stories to complete the Kindred Curse Anthology.

Terra was born and raised in Colorado but has since lived in California, Texas, Utah, North Carolina, and Virginia. Terra has served more than 5 years enlistment in the Marine Corp. She presently runs the language services division of a small business.

Connect with Terra:

E-mail: terra.harmony11@gmail.com

Facebook: http://facebook.com/terraharmony

Blog: http://harmonylit.wordpress.com/

Twitter: http://twitter.com/harmonygirlit

About the Book:

WATER:
Elemental powers in the palm of her hand…and it won't be enough to save her. When Kaitlyn Alder is involuntarily introduced to a life of magic, she becomes part of an organization hell-bent on saving the Earth. Just as her newfound life holds promises of purpose, romance and friendship, the organization divides and a rogue member holds Kaitlyn hostage. Now one of the most terrifying men the human race has to offer stands between her and Earth's survival. 

Links to purchase the book:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Water-The-Akasha-Series-ebook/dp/B005PY2U8Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1317477359&sr=8-1

Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/92109

(Please ensure the 'adult filter' at the top right hand corner of the screen is turned off).

B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/water-terra-wathen/1105957997?ean=2940013322226&itm=1&usri=water%2bterra

Discussion: 

Are you an author (published/struggling/aspiring)? Do you blog? How has it added to your overall writing experience? Do you think you sell more books if you have a wider fan base on your blog? Have your say in the comments section below! 

BE MY GUEST: How to design a Book Cover: Jess C Scott

When you go to a bookstore (even virtual like Amazon.com) to buy a book, the first thing that catches your eye is its “cover”. Sometimes, the decision to buy the book is made in those few seconds and then you read the blurb or flip the pages to see what is inside. So, let’s not underestimate the power of a “good” and “well-designed” book cover. One big positive is that it boosts the sales of the book. Also, who does not like a nice glossy looking book sitting on one’s bookshelf? Let’s be honest, we all do!

To cut the long story short, when I came to know that Jess, an extremely multi-talented artist not only writes books but also makes her own book covers, I had to ask how she does it all. I am sure her write-up will help you in understanding how can you go about designing the cover/illustration for your self-published book and how can you do it yourself using cheap tools available online.

Before you move on and read her article, have a look at the covers she designed. I think they look super-KEWL! Which one of the two covers you guys like the most? Let me know in the comments section below. 

How to design a Book Cover

By Author: Jess C Scott

I’m an independent author/artist/non-conformist, and I write in a range of different genres. All of my book covers are self-designed—creative freedom and flexibility/versatility are one of the things I enjoy the most about being an indie author.

I used an old sketch for the cover of my first book, EyeLeash: A Blog Novel, because I was working with an extremely low budget and wanted to keep costs low (that was in mid-2009). Since then, I’ve continued designing my own book covers, because (1) it is enjoyable, and (2) I like the challenge of creating covers that are both visually appealing and unique.

Book cover design covers three basic elements:

1) Base Drawing / Illustration

2) Fonts

3) Color / Style / Feel

The base drawing/illustration for the cover is the important element, and it’s OK if you don’t have the time or skills to do the drawings yourself—you can look for CC-licensed and royalty-free images online instead (I usually use flickr and deviantART when I “need some help”). Many artists charge reasonable licensing fees for commercial use of images. The one drawback is that you might see the same image being used on several different book covers by different authors (especially if the book falls into a popular commercial genre).

Don’t get too crazy with fonts! You want something that looks simple, nice, and is easily readable and identifiable when the book cover is viewed as a small thumbnail. I like using Urban Fonts and FontSpace for typography (I only use those that are labeled as “free for commercial use”).

The color/style/feel of a book cover’s design are also important—the bottom line is that a book cover has to (1) have visual appeal, and (2) attract the right audience. A loud/strong graphic would be okay for a mainstream/edgy kind of book (which is what I want going for with the above two book covers), though the same graphic style probably wouldn’t work for a historical romance novel (which generally requires a cover with a more “chivalric” feel).

I use an old hand-me-down version of Photoshop to arrange and enhance certain elements of the cover design. If I need any “extras” or cheap/free tools available online, I’ll run a search for “photoshop alternative online” on Google and see what comes up.

If you do want to learn how to draw or improve your design skills, a book that might help you is John Ruskin’s The Elements of Drawing. This book isn’t a step-by-step “how to draw” kind of guidebook, but it teaches you to use your eyes and be observant and appreciative of nature (and that all drawing is “dirtying the paper delicately”). Ruskin’s book is very demanding and requires you to be very dedicated with practicing, but I think the results are worth the time and effort.

Personally, I think learning how to draw is just as important as learning how to read and write. Drawing teaches you to be observant and disciplined, and it’s a great joy to be able to express oneself with words as well as with pictures. The important thing is to keep practicing and learning new things along the way. It is never too late to start.

I’ll end this guest post by thanking Komal for graciously hosting me, and giving me this topic to write about! I hope some of my tips have been useful.

About the Author:

Jess is an independent author/artist/non-conformist who’s dedicated to writing original stories that are both meaningful and entertaining. She works in a diverse range of genres, such as contemporary fiction, YA fiction, poetry, urban fantasy, and cyberpunk. She is currently completing "The Cyberpunk Elven Trilogy".

Website: www.jessINK.com

Social Media: Facebook | Twitter | Blog

Elven Trilogy Book Site: More Info / Excerpts

* Be sure to check out Jess’s newest short story, SKINS (http://www.jessINK.com/skins.htm), where Laer (the dark elf) seeks revenge on a couple of devotees of the exotic skins trade. SKINS is a freebie on Jess’s website!

About her Books:

Book #1: The Other Side of Life

Summary: A thieving duo's world turns upside down when an Elven rogue uncovers the heinous dealings of a megacorporation.

Synopsis: Anya and Leticia are partners-in-crime who steal for a living. Their world turns upside down after a chance encounter with fellow rogue, Ithilnin--the enigmatic leader of an Elven band of thieves.

A scuffle to prove who's "the better thief" transforms into more than Anya and Ithilnin ever bargained for. They retrieve the missing piece of an ancient poem, before getting caught in the secret dealings of a megacorporation. What they uncover threatens to alter the very essence of not just human life, but the other side as well.

Elven intrigue, cyberpunk action, and a deadly dose of danger come together in The Other Side of Life [Book #1 in the (Cyberpunk) Elven Trilogy].

To purchase this book, go to these links: Amazon | Smashwords | jessINK Website

Book # 2 : The Darker Side of Life

SUMMARY: A hybrid elf child combats a dark elf’s scheme to exploit and turn a virtual reality system into a weapon of mass destruction.

SYNOPSIS: Anya is distraught as she copes with being separated from Ithilnin (Nin). She realizes she could get the answers she desperately seeks from Laer—the first dark elf she’s encountered. With Laer’s help, a trip through the elves’ virtual reality system affects Anya more deeply than she anticipated. Laer enlightens Anya on her connection to the deciphered code of an ancient prophecy, information which she dutifully discusses in the dead of night with Nin. The discovery threatens to destroy Nin and Anya’s fragile but intimate ties, as Anya finds herself increasingly tempted to take a walk on the dark side. The plot thickens with jealousy, betrayal, and a noble vengeance in The Darker Side of Life [Book #2 in the (Cyberpunk) Elven Trilogy].

The Darker Side of Life (Book #2) and The Arcane Side of Life (Book #3) will be released in early 2012.

GENRE: Urban Fantasy / Cyberpunk / YA with adult crossover appeal

Watch out for the upcoming giveaway of “The Other Side of Life” on “The Review Girl” 

BE MY GUEST: 12 Things You Must Know When Converting An E-Book: Chen Lizra

You are done writing your book. You have decided that you will self-publish it. You have also made a final decision that you would like to launch your book as an e-book first and then, maybe as paperback in future. Now, your mind is occupied with these questions: How to format your book in Kindle and other e-book formats? What is the process? How to keep costs low and profits maximum while building your readership as a first-time writer? If you are looking for the answers to these questions, you have come to the right blog as Chen Lizra, the author of a unique travel guide, “My Seductive Cuba”, is sharing her knowledge with us regarding e-book conversion. Let’s welcome her on “The Review Girl”.

12 Things to know when converting an eBook 

By Author: Chen Lizra

Nowadays having an eBook is an essential part of launching a book, whether you are an Indie writer or have published your book through a publisher, you want to have your book in both print and eBook forms. Statistics show that sales of eBooks increase the sales of printed books. People are more willing to take a risk with a first time writer and try the book at a lower cost. But if they love it, many times they will buy the physical book as well.

When I started writing My Seductive Cuba, I have already made up my mind to release the book in both formats. I just didn’t know yet what the process entailed and the complexities involved. As an entrepreneur I can tell you that I believe in testing things. I just jump in and do it, sometimes having to make mistakes along the way in order to learn. With something that is fairly new and ground breaking like eBook conversion, I found that it was the only way to get answers, but a costly process. I’d like to share with you my lessons which I know will save you time and money. They will also help you understand your publisher better if you are represented by one.

I typically educate myself first about the subject. I read just about every article that came out on the internet about book conversion. I have learned very quickly a very important concept – if you want to convert a book to an eBook, you cannot fix the pages the same way they are in your physical book. A printed book will have a fixed amount of information per page and this will never change. In an eBook you can change the size of the font to your liking and because of that you need to allow the text and pictures to flow from one page to the other without fixing it. Knowing this made it easier to make decisions regarding the book conversion. I understood the concepts they were portraying and why the headers had to go.

I have searched high and low for the right company to convert my book. Specifically for My Seductive Cuba it was difficult to find the right company because the book is so complex. It is a high quality, all colour and full of graphics kind of a book. I needed a company that could handle it and at an affordable price. I ended up paying close to a $1000 for two file types – ePUB and Mobi.

It was hard to get a recommendation for a company because the field is so young and most authors I know have publishers that take care of it. Even companies that worked with authors didn’t know what to recommend. Many authors today who self publish go through companies that offer Print On Demand (POD) and they also provide conversion services. I could not use POD because the book is full colour. But I am pretty sure that people will be blown away when they will see how unique My Seductive Cuba eBook turned out.

So when converting your book here are the pitfalls you want to avoid:

1. Do I convert it myself or have someone convert it for me. I personally prefer to hire experts because it is their specialty. They can do a better job than me and can resolve any problem that might arise. I am a firm believer that if you do it, then do it right!

2. Complexity of the book affects the conversion. A black and white book with no images is easy to convert. A full colour book packed with graphics is difficult to convert. It will affect the time, money you spend, as well as the company you hire to convert.

3. Books come in various formats. Not everyone knows this but a book can be a Kindle, iTunes, Kobo and other file formats. For each format you need to convert the book, and to allow time to test it. I focused on ePUB and Kindle because these are the most popular. ePUB is the most elaborate and detailed file. Converting from ePUB to Kindle for example meant that things had to be adjusted again to fit the Kindle version, and tested.

4. Cost – don’t forget that each version costs you so think of what your strategy is. Do you really plan to launch it on all platforms or just the top two?

5. ISBN or not – I say yes! An eBook can be released without an ISBN on your site and on other sites. It’s better to have an ISBN because it gives you more options for the future as things expend. When working with self publishing POD companies, they can provide you with an ISBN, for free or for a small fee. If you plan to list your book on iTunes and Amazon, you will need an ISBN. Note that you actually need a different ISBN for each book format. An ePUB will get its own number and a Kindle its own. The ISBN numbers for the eBooks are different than the one provided in the printed version. Each country has a governing body that offers the ISBN numbers. Remember to check that each version has its own number when converting.

6. Is conversion taking place in house or overseas? This is important to know when you interview the company. If they are working overseas and the overseas country has a different sense of ethics, you need to find out how they are overseeing and guaranteeing quality. For example, what happens if the overseas company decides to convert the book but cannot do a decent job? Do you find out about it at the end of the conversion process or does the overseeing company makes sure to have check points every week to ensure quality control?

7. Contract - a professional company will sign you on a contract that states the terms of the conversion. Make sure to read this contract carefully and ensure that you agree to the terms. But what might be missing is what happens if they do not deliver the results on time. While everyone might have great intentions, you are planning your marketing schedule based on what they have promised you. If they fail to deliver, it will hurt your pocket. Bottom line, for such a small contract, you will not take them to court. Your best option is if the compensation is defined ahead of time in the contract.

8. Timeline – define the timeline for the conversion of your book but also leave room for unexpected challenges to come up. Conversion takes time and unexpected problems can occur. Also listing the book on sites takes time to process. Typically if conversion is done right the book can be posted within 48-72 hours.

9. Will the book pass the iTunes test? iTunes specifically is very finicky. It has very specific requirements and the eBook has to pass certain tests before it can be listed. Find out what the latest version accepted by iTunes is – a bit of research on the internet will answer this question. Then be sure that the company that you are hiring converts and prepares for the industry standard. The last thing you want is to end up with a great book but having to fix it.

10. Post it yourself or use an aggregator? When a book gets posted in the eBooks stores, the publishing company or self published author, gets a commission of about 70% of the sale price. You can post it yourself as a Kindle book, but for iTunes you will only be able to do it if you have an IRS number. Another option is hiring an approved aggregator; it will claim another 5-10% depending on the company and their offer. Aggregators can also convert for a fixed $ amount per page. This is good to know ahead of time because you might want to convert your book through your aggregator. Kindle conversion options can be found here.

11. DRM – add it or not? DRM is what protects your book from circulating freely from one person to the other, it puts limitations on how many times a book can be downloaded, used etc. Not all aggregators offer you DRM. Your choice should be made based on your strategy. For example, you might decide to release the eBook with no DRM because you’d like to build readership rather than sales.

12. Extra functionality – an eBook can have an interactive TOC, the ability to skip chapters, double clicking on an image to make it bigger, pushing a button to go back, adding interactivity to hyperlinks, and more. You should also remember that on iPads, for example, the image flips as you turn your screen to the side. As such you want to make sure that big photos that take up the whole page are set horizontally and shrunk down. You will be able to double click them to enlarge them. Or else you risk annoying your readers. If you have a picture that is spread over two pages, it will need to shirk to one page. And finding the right balance between keeping a certain graphic with the text as a picture or converting it to text is an art in itself. These decisions are not a quick matter and require some back and forth. Finally, the index numbers will not fit the actual page numbers in the book since they are not fixed to a page, instead you will need to turn them into interactive links that tag specific words in a specific page. It’s good practice to add a remark at the beginning of the index explaining this to the reader.

Final word about multimedia eBooks – from my research these will be a very cool option to offer in the future as books will have GPS implementation and other special features, but currently the industry is not quite there. The conversion is too expensive and the readers prefer, at this point, to buy cheaper books and lots of them. Even a $9.99 book has to show a high value through reputation in order to sell well.

I invite you to check out My Seductive Cuba both in print and as an eBook.

About the Author:

Chen Lizra started traveling to Cuba in 2005 in order to train with the island’s best professional dancers. Each year she finds more excuses to visit Cuba, discovering the culture from within and hanging out with her close friends. Chen grew up in Israel and later moved to Canada. She holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a major in marketing, which allowed her to turn her passion — Cuban dance and music — into an inspiring lifestyle for others through her company, Latidos Productions®.

Chen was selected as the Student Entrepreneur Champion for British Columbia in 2008. The following year, she was nominated as one of the “Women of Distinction in Vancouver,” and in 2010, she was named “Woman of the Month” by Modern Working Woman Magazine. In addition, the Australian government has honoured Chen with a distinguished talent permanent visa. She’s also been featured in numerous newspaper articles and TV shows.

Her latest book is My Seductive Cuba – A Unique Travel Guide.

Visit her website at www.myseductivecuba.com. Connect with her via her blog www.chenlizra.com, at Twitter at www.twitter.com/#!/MySeductiveCuba, www.twitter.com/#!/ChenLizra and Facebook at www.facebook.com/MySeductiveCuba.

About the Book:

My Seductive Cuba

Packed with practical information on where to go in Cuba, what to pack and the best ways to get there, "My Seductive Cuba" also helps readers ferret out persistent opportunists while finding Havana's best reggaetón, flamenco, jazz and salsa clubs. A glossary of Cuban slang and a description of the Santería religion - along with a vivid chapter titled "Getting Possessed" - makes Lizra's humorous travel guide even more compelling. This is one book you won't want to be without, even if you don't plan on going anywhere! – (Courtesy: Amazon.com)

To buy this book on Amazon, click here.

Here is a tempting video trailer which I would love to share with my blog’s readers. Enjoy!

BE MY GUEST: How to develop an engaging main character: Nicky Wells

There are always some characters which stay in our mind for years after reading a book, what makes them so memorable? What makes them so engaging? Is it because they are well-rounded and relatable? Or do their flaws make them stand-out and get stuck in our heads? Is it because such characters can be visualized by the readers easily? 

Nicky Wells, author of “Sophie’s Turn”, answers these intriguing questions and ruminates on creating and developing a main character, also known as “protagonist” in technical terms.

How to develop an engaging main character 

By Author: Nicky Wells

  

When Komal contacted me and suggested I should write a guest blog on writing and developing a main character, my first reaction was one of despair. I’m not a ‘trained’ writer as such, have never been to any writing courses, and have never tried to teach anybody else to write. What I do, is write. So how could I possibly offer a guest blog on this subject?

Initial panic quelled and calm thoughts restored, I thought I’d do what I do best: write, and this time, write about what I did, and how I did it. This is not intended as the definite guide to creating a lead character; this is simply me sharing my experience.

So I decided to write my big novel, finally. First things first: I had a think about my characters. The female character was obviously the focus of attention; she would be the I-narrator, and she’d lend her name to the book. So I started with a name.

I picked ‘Sophie’ out of a long list of baby names on the internet for two reasons. Obviously the name appealed to me, but also at that time I didn’t know anybody personally by that name, so there could be no connection with a real person.

That accomplished, I sat down and created a character profile, which looked like this:

The character profile had to answer key question that I would know about my best friend—and I considered Sophie to be one of them! So I thought of all the important and not so important things that one typically knows about one’s best friends, including what they like to eat, their pet hates and their happy buttons. Once complete, that character profile lived on my wall where I could see it while writing. I let it percolate for a few days to make sure that I really ‘knew’ Sophie… and of course, I did the same for the other key characters. Over time, as I was writing, it evolved in places but largely, that profile was my framework of references in all things Sophie.

Right then, now that I had a ‘feel’ for who Sophie was, I needed to think about her motivations. What does she want from life? And is she getting where she wants to be? In Sophie’s case, the answer was quite simple. Actually, she’d love nothing more than settling with a gorgeous man somewhere in a nice house (doesn’t need to be big or pompous, just nice and comfy) with a couple of children and a lovely part-time job that she enjoys. At the start of the novel, she has a job that she adores, and a really close friend who acts as her extended family. She rents a flat that she likes but would be even happier if she could buy it. And she has Tim, her boyfriend of two years, who she is reasonably happy with… BUT.

This was Sophie’s starting point. Things are good, BUT. And this ‘but’ sets the story off for Sophie as there is something missing in her life. This is where character development began. Initially Sophie thinks she is discontent because Tim isn’t proposing. As far as she can see, all the other pieces necessary for happiness in her life are more or less in place.

But actually, by and by she realises that there is more amiss with her life than she thought. Specifically, she is missing some kind of excitement, some glitz and glamour. And at this moment Tusk and Dan come back into her life. While the flashbacks ought to have served as a hint to Sophie, it is bumping into Darren (the guitarist) at the airport that really opens her eyes to her own motivations. In this way, I moved Sophie from the ‘mostly happy’ into the ‘confused and uncertain’ state of mind.

Things get even worse when Dan starts wooing Sophie in the most romantic way imaginable. Here she is, straight as an arrow, never lied to anyone, only looking for fairly simple ingredients to her happiness… and Dan throws a massive spanner in the works. What’s a girl to do?

You may have noticed that planning the development in Sophie’s motivation (and events in her life, obviously) is closely linked to the development of the plot as a whole. So after the character profile and basic thoughts on her motivation, the next step wasn’t actually outlining her evolution, as I just did above. The actual next step was to plan the plot in meticulous detail, and then dovetail her emotions, motivations and actions with the storyline. It’s a little bit of a chicken-and-egg question, and I tend to do a little bit of this followed by a little bit of that… a kind of incremental, interlinked character and plot development.

And this, in a nutshell, is my approach to creating and developing a lead character. If you’re starting to write a novel right now, I’d say the absolutely most important thing is to make sure to get into your character’s head. You have to know him or her as though he/she was a real person. And yes, that may involve holding the occasional conversation with them, arguing and debating with them and, sometimes, telling them off. If you know your character intimately, you’ll find it relatively easy to grow and evolve them.

A Big Thanks to Komal for hosting a guest-blog stop on my “Virtual Book Tour” for “Sophie’s Turn”.

About the Author:

Nicky Wells is a writer and former business practices researcher. Born and raised in Germany, she moved to the United Kingdom in 1993. Having received degrees from the University of London and from the University of Oxford, she has spent six years working as a researcher and project manager for an international Human Resources research firm based in London and Washington, DC. She has just published her novel, “Sophie’s Turn” which is a contemporary romance tale. To know more about her and her writing, visit her website: http://nickywellsklippert.wordpress.com

About her Book:

Slapper. Slut. Adulteress. These are hardly words that Sophie Penhalligan would normally use to describe herself. And yet this is exactly how she is behaving, all things considered, even if she isn’t quite married to Tim yet. Aged nineteen, she travelled halfway across the country to honour an invitation by her favourite rock band, Tusk, to join them for the last gig of their tour. And now her past is coming to tempt her... How could Tim ever stand a chance against Dan, the charming, handsome lead-singer? How could she?

Sophie, now twenty-eight and a budding newspaper journalist, is happily embroiled in a relationship with Tim, her boyfriend of two years. Until recently, she was confident that Tim would eventually propose—probably as soon as he could get his act together. But just as Tim’s persistent inaction is beginning to cast a cloud over their relationship, Dan’s sudden reappearance turns Sophie’s world upside down. Thus unfolds a roller-coaster of events including an ill-fated trip to Paris with Tim, a night of unfulfilled romance with Dan, Sophie and Tim’s engagement party gate-crashed by Dan, and Sophie’s professional secondment to accompany Dan’s band on their revival tour—at Dan’s special request and very much against her will.

And then, one fine day in Paris, Sophie suddenly finds herself engaged to Dan while her erstwhile fiancé Tim is... well, doing whatever it is Tim does back in London. What is she to do now? Who wouldn’t give anything to meet their favourite star, let alone marry him?

Find out how Sophie gets into this impossible situation, and how she turns it around, in Sophie’s Turn, a modern romantic fairy tale. – (Courtesy: Amazon.co.uk)

To buy this book on Amazon (UK), click here.


To purchase from Amazon (US), click here.

BE MY GUEST: How to write Historical Fiction: Karen V. Wasylowski

Dear folks! Let’s greet Karen who is an amazing author of “Darcy and Fitzwilliam” (read my review here). This book is getting rave reviews from the literary world. Not only is her book good, she is also a sweet and down-to-earth person with an open mind for constructive feedback. Today, she is here to give us some valuable writing tips on how to use “history” as a background for writing a novel. If you are planning to write literary fiction or an adaptation of some great classic, this article will definitely help you in your creative pursuit.

How to write Historical Fiction 

By Author: Karen V. Wasylowski 

First of all I want to make it clear that I do not in any way, shape, or form, consider myself a professional writer, even though by some bizarre quirk of fate I did have a novel published, and when I say published I mean by a real publisher who has a Chicago office and a Connecticut office and there are lots of desks in Chicago with eager, skinny, twenty-two year old, recent Northwestern graduates, who look a lot younger, say barely fifteen, and they all want to find the next great giant in the literary world. I believe that is a fine example of a run-on sentence. Anyway, my point is I wrote a historical novel - Darcy and Fitzwilliam - and I did it without formal training. I had no idea going in what complexities would be involved. And, evidently, I was not that next great literary find. But I digress…

I suppose the best place to start is with a time frame in history that interests you. The more I read, the more fascinated I became with the Regency Period, those nine years between 1811 - when King George III (Mad King George) was deemed unfit to rule and his son, the Prince of Wales, became his proxy as Prince Regent - and 1820, when the Prince Regent became George IV upon the death of his father. Very dry and clinical when you read the facts, but that is what is so wonderful about Historical Fiction. Research!

When you find that era or period of time you are interested in you will really want to do a great deal of research. (I dislike ‘historicals’ that fit history to their story, instead of fitting their story to history) The drama of the past can always be used, and often gives you inspiration, actually becoming another character to your tale.

I found that Regency England was really pretty wild. The more I researched about George III and the Prince of Wales, the more fascinated I became. The Prince Regent held court at Carlton House, his followers being a pretty randy group that engaged in all of the vices - gaming, drinking, carousing, cavorting, etc. When the Prince of Wales married a Catholic widow, Maria Fitzherbert, he tried to keep the marriage secret, but his father found out and insisted it be dissolved. The marriage was deemed illegal and the Prince agreed to go along as long as his gambling losses were covered (romantic fellow). He then went on to marry Caroline of Brunswick whom he detested so viscerally that he refused her admittance to his coronation. His true love was still Maria Fitzherbert and she remained his true love (between his mistresses of course) for his whole life.

Still, while he was King his behavior, and that of his court, continued to deteriorate. His dear friends, Fox and Sheridan, were debauchers and gamblers, his friend the Earl of Barrymore (a distant relation to the famous acting family) reinstated the Hellfire Club, a group dedicated to sins of the flesh, and the nonsense went on and on as they all descended deeper and deeper into a hedonistic lifestyle. It was not until years later that the tide turned, when Queen Victoria’s new husband, the very moral Prince Albert, arrived at court and observed its long accepted and appalling behavior. He began to enforce more rigid codes of conduct, ushering in the now famous Victorian Age.

You see then how the times of the era form the characters about whom you write, those beloved people, those men and women of your story, are products of the era. You can’t really write about those people until you understand them thoroughly and the times in which they lived. The more research you do, the more details and information you obtain, the more interesting and realistic a story you can create.


While I researched Darcy and Fitzwilliam I learned not only about the Regency era with regards to the grand level of society to which Fitzwilliam Darcy probably belonged, I also had to learn about the Peninsular Wars. Colonel Fitzwilliam (the other half of my dynamic duo) would more than likely have been involved in those wars and that provided me with material to flesh out his character. Actually his character is mentioned only in two or three pages of “Pride and Prejudice”, described as Darcy’s cousin, a co-guardian of Georgiana, a second son who needed to marry money since he had none of his own, a flirt, a charming and delightful companion to Lizzy; but, he not as good looking a fellow as Darcy. That was all the information provided by Jane Austen for the character of Colonel Fitzwilliam. The true history of Great Britain provided the rest.

About the Author:

Karen V. Wasylowski is a retired accountant living in Bradenton, Florida, with her husband, Richard, and their many pets. Karen and Richard spend much of their free time volunteering with the St. Vincent DePaul Society and Stillpoint House of Prayer, both charitable organizations that assist the poor living in the Bradenton community. They are also actively involved with Project Light of Manatee, an all-volunteer organization that provides literacy instruction to poor immigrants and to members of the community who cannot read.


Visit her website to know more about her and her writing: http://www.karenwasylowski.com/

To buy her book, “Darcy and Fitzwilliam”, click here.

To read my detailed review of this book, click here.

BE MY GUEST: How to choose a Point-of-View for your novel: Bonnie Trachtenberg

These days, I see 90% of novels written in first person. It makes me wonder is it because this way is easier to convey the story to readers or writing in 3rd person makes the novel boring? Which is better: writing in first person POV or third person POV for novels? While I was looking for an answer to my question, I came across Bonnie whose first novel is in first person POV while her second novel (under editing) is in third person POV. 
So, I thought what would be better than asking someone who has the experience of both styles. I was delighted by her wonderful response and want to share it with all my readers and aspiring authors. 

Guest Post:

First Person vs. Third Person Point-of-Views 

By Author: Bonnie Trachtenberg 

I’m thoroughly convinced that one of the biggest reasons would-be authors never make it through page one of their would-be novels, is the daunting and confusing first step of choosing a point-of-view. It’s something most book readers aren’t even consciously aware of, despite the fact that it hugely determines how they will relate to the characters and to the story as a whole.

First person offers a single-eye view of the world through the perspective of one character, who is also the narrator of the story. In third person, the author tells the story in an “anonymous” voice, and is afforded the advantage of tapping into more than one character’s head to convey thoughts and feelings.

For my debut novel, "Wedlocked", I did not have to struggle with the decision of which view to choose. Wedlocked is based on my own true experiences, namely my impulsive, brief and disastrous marriage after years of struggling through singlehood. Telling the story through my main character’s point-of-view was a natural choice, since Rebecca is really me with a few tweaks. But I soon learned of the great disadvantage of choosing first person: the story could only go as far as my protagonist’s own eyes, ears and experiences. Rebecca had to be in every scene!

Luckily, I overcame this obstacle easily, as the story had Rebecca remembering the events of her life from a future place and time. Her perspective was enough to convey what I needed to, and her vibrant and witty personality carried the story with ease. However, there is something else writers of first person stories need to look out for. It’s important to make sure your tale isn’t bogged down by “I” this and “I” that. It requires some creativity to make sure you don’t fall into that annoying trap, but it’s surely doable.

In my second novel (as yet un-named and in the editing phase), I knew first person wouldn’t work nearly as well as third person. Why? Because I had two characters whose heads I intended to pry into, and they weren’t even going to meet until about one hundred pages into the book. Thus, I chose third person, even though the thought of it worried me. I’d never written that way before and wasn’t sure what obstacles I’d face. Would I be able to make it as funny as Wedlocked? Could I convey the distinct personalities of the main characters as clearly? Happily, the answer is yes!

As the “anonymous voice” telling the story, I could still communicate the characters’ colorful personalities and humorous thoughts (albeit third hand). Dialogue wasn’t an issue because it’s the same in both point-of-views, and the advantage of not having to have my main character in every scene was a liberating adventure for me.

Now, to complicate matters, a writer’s decision regarding point-of-view doesn’t stop there. You are also required to choose either present voice or past voice. Is the action happening “as we speak” or are the events being told from a time in the future? Most novels use past voice and it’s a good thing. It is not common for authors to successfully employ present voice, as it can be quite jarring to the reader if not used adeptly. I briefly considered using present voice for Wedlocked, but luckily after a few arduous and uncomfortable pages, came to my senses.

Now, let’s say like most authors you choose third person, past voice. Guess what? You’re still not done making point-of-view decisions. Now you need to determine if your story is going to be told in limited, objective or omniscient view. (See why so many writers give up before they start?) In limited view, the reader is limited to just the perspective of one main character (although it can be modified, as my second novel takes you inside the head of two main characters.) In objective view, the reader doesn’t see any of the character’s views, thoughts or feelings, but instead observes the story only from actions and details. And in omniscient view, the reader is privy to every character’s thoughts and feelings in the scene, a prospect that scares off many new writers.

Just remember, you don’t have to make a final decision that’s set in stone before you begin writing. I learned that it’s okay to make an educated guess as to the best view to take and if you run into serious problems you can always go back to the beginning and change it. Trial and error is not against the rules and can be a great way to figure out the best mode of telling a story.

I think most authors still use third person because it allows for more versatility and complex storylines. Nowadays though, the use of first person seems more prevalent than ever before. Maybe that’s because a whole genre was founded on the basis of it. I am referring, of course, to Chick Lit. Ever since Bridget Jones began scrawling in her diary, millions of female readers have been swept into novels with the aid of that personal, intimate voice that speaks so well to them. Now the prevalence of first person has stretched beyond Chick Lit into other women’s fiction too. For example, I have been told by several readers of Wedlocked that it was Rebecca’s wit and exasperation at her circumstances that made her so much fun as a narrator and so easy to relate to. That says a lot about the appeal of first person, but ultimately it’s your unique story that will determine which point-of-view is best.

About the Author:

Bonnie Trachtenberg is the author of Wedlocked: A Novel. She was senior writer and copy chief at Book-of-the-Month Club and has written seven children’s book adaptations. She has also written for three newspapers and penned countless magazine articles. Visit her website at http://www.bonnietrachtenberg.com/

To buy her book, “Wedlocked” on Amazon, click here. 

Are you writing/written a novel? Which POV you opted for and why? Or if you are someone who loves to read novels, tell me which POV you enjoy more? Share your experiences in the comment section below.

BE MY GUEST: How to write a Short Story: Deborah Batterman

On my blog, in previous guest posts, authors have talked about various aspects of novel-writing, marketing and publishing issues. But this post is different because it does not talk about any aspect of a “novel”, rather it takes a look at another form of writing - a “short story”. 

Let’s find out if it is just the length of a “short story” which sets it apart from a “novel” or there are other things to consider too, while developing a “short story”. Deborah, an experienced writer, tells all wanna-be short-story writers what it is about and how to get started on this creative pursuit.

Guest Post:

How to write a Short Story 

By Author: Deborah Batterman 

Every couple of years, it seems, an article appears confirming that the short story is alive and well, possibly in a state of resurgence – a “heartening development,” said the New York Times when it counted twelve collections in its 100 Notable Books of 2009. Whether or not that was a watershed year, the Wall St. Journal took note, When Brevity Is a Virtue. Yes, it’s true that the marketing powers remind us, again and again, that short story collections do not sell as well as novels. Subsumed within that conventional wisdom is the suggestion that the short story, as an art form, takes second place to the novel. On the contrary, an argument can be made that the short story, contained as it is, can come closer to something of artistic perfection than its sprawling cousin. Think Jhumpa Lahiri, Alice Munro, William Trevor, not to mention Edna O’Brien, Grace Paley, Raymond Carver, Charles Baxter, Stuart Dybek, T. C Boyle. Chekhov.

And yet, there’s no arguing with the day-to-day immersion in another reality that is part and parcel of the novel’s pull. A short story is a one-sitting affair. Before the written word, there was the oral tradition of storytelling – folk tales and fairy tales, myths and legends passed down from generation to generation. With the written word came a new paradigm for conveying stories. Reading became a new form of listening. Today, with the ever-shifting ways in which we read – so much demanding even more of our limited attention – there’s every reason for short fiction to thrive. Hybrid forms like flash fiction and the prose poem have never been more popular.

Sometimes, a story, finished as it seems, demands more. The eponymous protagonists of Saul and Patsy, a novel by Charles Baxter, had an earlier incarnation in short stories of his, one of which ends with their death in a car accident. Baxter has said he came to see the stories as a cornerstone for the novel. In my own collection, two stories, seemingly unconnected, started nagging at me, suggesting more than I had intended. All of which speaks to that part of writing I love most, when characters take on a life of their own.

So where do you begin writing a short story?

I’m tempted to say from the heart, not in the sense of something maudlin or melodramatic, but in the sense that, if something moves you, it stands a better chance of having an affective quality as a story. The genesis of “Shoes,” one of the title stories in my collection, was the image of pairs of shoes lined up on the floor of my parents’ bedroom; a woman from my childhood, off-beat in her way, gave rise to a hybrid character, “Crazy Charlotte”; “Vegas,” a metaphor in its own right, became the place a son would take his father in the early stages of dementia.

Image – the very word is rooted in our capacity to see something beyond direct observation, and yet direct observation is so often where it begins: a woman crying into her cell phone outside a restaurant, a man uncorking a bottle of wine on the train, a woman walking at a snail’s pace across Grand Central Station. What image compels you to sit with it, get beneath the surface of conscious thought and see if a narrative reveals itself?

Situation/issue/setting – There’s a sense, in writing a short story, of casting a magnifying glass on a particular situation/issue (in contrast to the long view that belongs to the novel): A wedding that goes awry, a car accident on an icy road, a parent grappling with the death of a child from an overdose of drugs. If there’s no immediately compelling situation from your own world, there’s always the news: a man is arrested after throwing $20 bills and baggies of marijuana from a rooftop; a man on death row requests oysters for his last meal; a woman leaves all of her inheritance to her dog. The truth, as they say, is stranger than fiction.

Who/where/why/how/when? – If writing is an act of discovery, beginning a story is an act of faith – faith in the process that will take you from point A to B, C, and D via a narrative arc that is integral to the story itself. Some stories demand a straightforward telling, up close and personal via first-person; others require the space and distance of a third person, omniscient or not; still others are best told via a dual perspective.

Let’s assume you have your first line and/or the image/situation around which the story will take shape. From there, as simplistic as it seems, the narrative unfolds around questions lurking beneath the plot line, the assumption being that you, the writer, are as curious as your imagined reader(s) to know what happens next. A well-paced story derives from a willingness, in the first draft especially, to trust that imagination, below the level of conscious thought, will take you, by the seat of your pants, from scene to scene. It may be helpful to make a rough outline of the scenes, bearing in mind that the more deliberate work – the ruthless cutting of lines and paragraphs, the shifting of perspective, the realization that the real beginning is on page five – is yet to come.

The sum of the parts – In the way that image can get you started, another word rooted in ‘seeing’ – revision – brings you home, lets you see if the whole is in fact greater than the sum of its parts. The analogy of a jigsaw puzzle is often used in the crafting of the story, the pieces being of your own devising – the ‘telling’ details that make a character or setting jump from a page, the sequencing of scenes, the lasting resonance that casts a light on an otherwise mundane scenario. The inherent form of the short story makes the beginning-middle-end narrative arc, with all its meanderings, more readily manageable. It’s in the honing, draft after draft, that the spirited plot is kept from plodding along.

About the Author: 

A native New Yorker, Deborah Batterman is a fiction writer and essayist. Her stories have appeared in anthologies as well as various print and online journals. A story from her debut collection, Shoes Hair Nails, was nominated for the Pushcart Prize. Visit her website: http://deborahbatterman.com/
She can also be found on Facebook and Twitter.

About her Book: 

Shoe Hair Nails: Anthology of Short Stories

The settings of these stories - 1980s New York City, 1950s Brooklyn, Las Vegas, an exurban town post-9/11 - are as diverse as the rich palette of characters drawn with heart, humor, and sensuality. With a sharp sense of the telling detail, Deborah Batterman weaves narratives around the everyday symbols in our world and their resonance in our lives.

To buy this book on Amazon, click here.

Are you a short story writer? Have you got your short story published in a magazine or on a website in a competition? Tell me about it in the comments section below. You can also provide the direct link if it is published on an online portal. If you have any questions regarding short story writing, feel free to discuss them here.

BE MY GUEST: How to become an “Indie” Author by Author Lorena Bathey

As we all know that this hot topic is making waves all over the publishing market and authors are indecisive as to whether to go indie or not, I can’t thank Lorena enough for sending me this brilliantly written piece about the ins and outs of independent publishing. Grasp the pearls of wisdom from this extremely talented and confident indie writer and publisher, Lorena, who explains the process of self-publishing in a step-by-step manner. For all those writers out there, who are hesitant to become an Indie Author or who do not have the clue where to start from, this article is a must-read! 

Guest Post: 

How to become an “Indie” Author 

By Author/Publisher: Lorena Bathey 

Today there is a huge new arena in the area of publishing. With the advent of eReaders and eBooks, a new type of writer and publisher has emerged on the scene. This person has decided to take the bull by the horns and make their writing accessible now, instead of waiting for the more traditional route of publishing. They are the “Indie” authors and publishers of the new age.

The advent of Indie has created some amazing new writers who are giving their words flight by utilizing companies that do everything for you except write the work. Once you have something to publish then you need only have cash and find the right company that fits you, to create not only an eBook but a physical manifestation of your inspiration.

However, there are issues in the world of what is called "Indie" publishing and that is access. Because anyone can publish, anyone does. This means that Indie publishers and works are many times ignored or dismissed because they don't have the expertise behind them.

Without the expertise, it is the attention to detail and professionalism that gives a self-published book the same quality as a corporately published book. Because anyone can write and now anyone can publish, there is a lot of work out there that has not been properly edited to become a good piece of work. This is the first stumbling block to self-publishing, not taking the time to make it a professional piece of work. It doesn't matter how many times you, as the author, reads over the writing a professional editor is paramount to a work being worthy of being published.

An editor is important for a few reasons. They are impartial and do not know the blood, sweat, and tears you've put into your work, they only do their job and see how it reads and flows. This impartiality means that they are looking at your work with an eye to construction, character flow, and the overall feeling of the story. An editor can see places where the work is sluggish, too wordy, and give you a heads up to clean it up where you might miss it. An editor also checks punctuation, grammar, and spelling which is vastly important to a work you are going to send out into the world. Hiring an editor is important and is a step that should not be skipped.

The next aspect that is important to self-publishing is to understand that amount of time it will take you to get the work out into the world. Since the first word here is "self" it is you that will be not only bringing the work to life but also finding a designer to develop a title page for you. There are too many self-published works out there whose cover design is a dead give-away that it is a self-published work. The book should look "shelf-ready" which means that you could safely see it on the shelf of your local book store.

That means you must do your homework. Go t o your local bookstore and see what covers look like. What does the copy on the back look like and how are the guts of the books set up? Then find a designer, and most of the print on demand publishing companies offer this service, and utilize them to create a cover that will please your audience. Do not scrimp on this aspect as it is the calling card that you will be showing to individuals and will sell your work to many people. So many individuals buy a book based on the cover art and too many self-published works look like they didn't take the time to create a professional cover.

The next part you will be responsible for is marketing your work. While again, many of the print on demand companies offer to market your work, you are the salesperson for your new book. That means you must spend time on the internet with social marketing building a platform to sell your book, you have to visit bookstores to get your books on their shelves, and you must find locations or events where your book could be sold. This takes time, energy, and sometimes some money to build up the buzz around your book. Be creative and find out of the box ways to showcase your work. Make sure that you ask your friends and family to be your best advertisers.

When you decide to become an Indie author or publisher it is a good way to decide to be in control of your works future, but remember that you have a responsibility to create professional work. This is the way that Indie authors and publishers will develop even more credibility and be a force in the industry. But even more, this is how you can create a career for yourself. With hard work, determination, and great inspiration you can have books that many will enjoy and that will bring success to your door.

About the Author:

Lorena Bathey is an Indie Author and Publisher. After writing her first book, Happy Beginnings, she found that characters were visiting her mind and would not leave. She was introduced to Marissa, Andrea, Lily, Deidre and Beatrice and her first novel, Beatrice Munson, came to life. After finishing that book, she was inspired to write more novels and she knew that pursuing her passion was the best way to live her life. So, she became a writer.

To know more about her and her writing, visit her website, www.LorenaBBooks.com

About her Book: 

Beatrice Munson

In Vista Heights, the women of the neighborhood have started to look like their homes, varying shades of beige. Lost in this world of suburbia, Marissa Lyons learns her high school nemesis has bought the house right across the street from her. Afraid that her arch enemy, Beatrice Munson, will arrive with Marissa’s high school crush as her husband and cause Marissa to relive the insecurity of high school in her forties she decides to face the music and heads to Beatrice’s house with warm cupcakes. But what Marissa finds is something she never expected.

How will Marissa and the rest of the women of San Martino deal with someone like Beatrice Munson, whose defining moment in her life was to get a boob job or go on a trip to Egypt.

This story is about friendship, love, learning to look at things differently, and great parties. Step into the world of Vista Heights where you might recognize the women, or you might be one of them. - (Courtesy: Amazon.com)

To buy her latest book, Beatrice Munson, click here.

To read my detailed review of this book, click here.

If you are an Indie Author/Publisher, then leave a comment telling me about your experience. If you are an unpublished writer and want to go by this route, then let me know how helpful this article was for you. Even if you have any questions regarding self-publishing, then drop them in the comment box and I will forward them to Lorena, who would be more than happy to respond!

BE MY GUEST: How to publish your first novel By Author Carolyn Haley

Carolyn Haley is not just an author but also an incredible observer of trends in the publishing industry. In today’s guest post, she answers the questions that pop up in the mind of every author going to get his/her novel published for the first-time. For example, which way to go, traditional or self-publishing? How to approach the market? Should it be wise to go for e-book or print or both? She shares the insights from her own experiences to motivate all the unpublished authors out there sitting with a manuscript in their hand, trying to decide what to do next. Let’s find out what she has to say:

Guest Post: 

How to publish your first novel 

By Author/Editor: Carolyn Haley 

These days, the fiction market is not a land of opportunity for first-time novelists. Getting traditionally print published has become as unlikely as winning the lottery! Although exceptions pop up now and then, generally, to sell your book it must either have blockbuster potential or slot into a genre with a loyal audience who expects multiple, similar books to follow.

My first novel bombs on all fronts. It’s a hybrid, mixing science fiction, romantic suspense, fantasy, and mystery into one speculative saga about psychic power. Instead of a big audience in any one genre, it appeals to a small audience in one genre. I don’t have enough stories in my head to crank out a book a year to feed a hungry readership. So there’s no reason for the average traditional print publisher to want me.

I bashed my head against this truth for years before finally accepting that I would never hold in my hand a hardcover with my name on it, bought and produced by a big-name publisher. But after two-plus decades of development, I was not going to bury my manuscript in a drawer!

By the time I faced reality, the e-book market had emerged. Like many people, I held it in disdain, as one step above vanity publishing—just another place where rejected novelists go in desperation to validate their efforts.

This snobbery vanished when I started meeting fellow readers, writers, and editors who were not only trying out Kindles and Sony Readers, but loving them. And now a younger generation is reading books on pocket devices and mobile phones. Hmm. Time to pick up my head and pay attention.

Also, a wise adage I’d heard years earlier kept echoing in my head: “Definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”

So I hit the Internet and spent many evenings compiling lists of e-publishers and comparing them against various “writers beware” sites. I read submission requirements and sample contracts, and studied covers and synopses. Eventually I focused on a Canadian e-publisher who sells books in all my genres plus a new one I hadn’t considered (New Age). She takes electronic rights only for three years, and has an art portfolio that suggested we’d survive the cover design process together. All that homework paid off and my novel came out through Club Lighthouse Publishing, sporting an eye-popping cover that contains all the elements I requested.

Success! That is, success in theory. Now we’ve got to promote the book around the world to achieve success in fact. Thanks to the Internet, connecting with the world is possible—and fun! There are so many avenues to explore, through which I’m meeting my eclectic audience. At the same time, I’m building a web presence for both my writing endeavors and my editing business. So my career has turned virtual in both of its channels.

Nevertheless, I’m self-publishing a print version of the novel to reach the people who still prefer bound-paper books. This is new for me, too—I still want to hold my book in my hand! Besides, it’s a little weird pitching something that’s essentially invisible. My print version, with its own ISBN, will contain the original and possibly my own artwork on the cover. It’s exciting and ego-gratifying to have total control!

As the alternative market continues to develop, many e-book publishers have begun offering dual packages, so that one’s book can be simultaneously published in both electronic and print forms. I like this idea for my next novel. Standards are slowly creeping upward to the point where first-time authors must formally submit their materials to electronic or dual publishers just as they have been doing to traditional print publishers, though it remains easier, overall, to get accepted by the newer, younger, smaller companies.

Sooner or later parity will be reached between print and e-publishing, but I’m willing to bet that more doors remain open wider and for longer in the electronic world than they will be in the print world. Meanwhile, the self-publishing options, whether paid services or something you do entirely yourself, will always be available.

Regardless, unless you’ve got a blockbuster or a perfect genre fit (beautifully written, edited, and proofread, of course), you’ll have the same challenges in marketing your novel, whatever the venue, as few publishers of any type have the budgets or inclination to promote all titles on their lists. What’s changed is the route and relative ease of getting a first novel out into the world.

About the Author:

Carolyn Haley is a writer and editor living in rural Vermont. Through her business, DocuMania, she writes a mix of articles for regional and national magazines, and commercial copy for catalogues and websites. She also helps other authors with diverse projects through editing, proofreading, production, and education. She has written a novel and non-fiction book. She is currently working on a coming-of-age novel “Louder than Words”. 

To know more about her current books, editing and writing services, visit her website: http://carolynhaley.wordpress.com/

About her Book:

Open Your Heart with Gardens
FINALIST! 2008 Indie Book Awards, Home/Garden and Nature/Environment categories

This non- fiction explores the whys and how of interacting with the living green world. It forms a volume in DreamTime Publishing’s “Open Your Heart…” series, which helps readers “master your life through what you know.” It looks at plants from a new angle ­- from hobby to healing, as sanctuary or for sharing, for art, entertainment, and even survival; gardens help us nurture our unique natures.

The narrative weaves together the author’s experience plus stories from people around America revealing how plants bring peace; empowerment; joy; refreshment; and other positive feeling or purpose to life. Tips on gardening across environments show how to fit plants into most any lifestyle, integrating the physical and the spiritual into a balanced whole. This book opens our minds to a larger world, which then opens new doors to opportunity and fulfillment. It all starts with gardens, just as gardens start from seeds.

To buy this book on Amazon, click here.