Discovering new authors

Every now and then we step out of our comfort zone and try a new author or even a different genre to what we normally read.  Kris Radcliffe is an author worth a try if you are looking to expand on your usual reading tastes.  As a child, Kris took down a pack of hungry wolves with only a hardcover copy of "The Dragonriders of Pern" and a sharpened toothbrush. That fateful day set her on a path traversing many storytelling worlds--dabbles in film and comic books, time as a talent agent and a textbook photo coordinator, and a foray into nonfiction. After co-authoring "Mind Shapes: Understanding the Differences in Thinking and Communication", Kris returned to academia. But she craved narrative and a richly-textured world of Fates, Shifters, and Dragons--and unexpected, true love.

Kris lives in Minnesota with her husband, two daughters, Handsome Cat, and an entire menagerie of suburban wildlife bent on destroying her house. That battered-but-true copy of "Dragonriders"? She found it yesterday. It's time to pay a visit to the woodpeckers.

Thomas's Muse

Four years ago, for a brief moment, Sammie Singleton became the muse of an artist she didn't know. The moment vanished, and now Sammie spends her nights with a different man.

Her life is black and white. But she needs food for her soul to feel alive.

She needs color. She needs art.

Everything changes the moment she meets Thomas Quidell. Brilliant and talented, Sammie quickly realizes Tom is her artist--and the man she's been fantasizing about all these years.

Tom offers her more than a lifeline. He opens her eyes to a new life. Vibrant, loving, fulfilling. But is she strong enough to take a chance?

ONLINE LINKS:

• Website:  http://www.sixtalonsign.com/novels/

• Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/AuthorKrisAustenRadcliffe or my profile account, if you want to see the snarkier me:  http://www.facebook.com/kris.austenradcliffe

• Twitter:  https://twitter.com/KrisRadcliffe

        Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/krisradcliffe BUY NOW LINK:

·         Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Thomass-Quidell-Brothers-Austen-Radcliffe-ebook/dp/B00GX9VRKE/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

·         B&N  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/thomass-muse-kris-austen-radcliffe/1117508416?ean=2940149103911 

What’s your favorite ‘I need a break from writing’ activity?

Writing is my break from everything else. 

How do you approach writing sex scenes?  They can range from mild to wild.  Where are you on the mild to wild meter?

Totally depends on the story.  With “Thomas’s Muse,” I set out to expand that writing muscles, so to speak, and write hotter than I do in the Fate ~ Fire ~ Shifter ~ Dragon series.  The Quidell Brothers series is populated by characters who are mature and, well,frustrated, so the heat goes up and up. 

When I’m writing Rysa (the heroine from the FFSD series), the love scenes are more about her emotions than the sex itself, but that will change as the series moves forward and she becomes more sure of herself.  When I’m writing Ladon (the hero), the scenes are more explicit, but only because he uses a different vocabulary. 

Do you write in one genre?  Or more than one?

Three, right now, through the Six Talon Sign imprints:

Contemporary Erotic Romance  (Six Love Erotic Romance)

Urban Fantasy Romance  (Six Talon Sign Fantasy & Futuristic Romance)

Science Fiction  (Talon One Science Fiction)

What about marketing?  How do you approach that area?

I’m an introvert, so I hire help, including Vickie at Innovative Online Tours, http://www.iobooktours.com/.  She’s a big help.  I’m also working with someone new (uh-hum) who’s helping me with the social media aspect of promotion.  There’s also some traditional, publisher-oriented promotion stuff that I’m learning right now.

What about beta readers?  Do you use them?  How many do you have?  Where do you find them?

I’m weird about beta readers.  Part of the problem is that I write too fast for beta readers to be of any true use to me.  I can’t sit around and wait for people to finish, so I work with a content editor whom I LOVE, Annetta Ribken at http://wordwebbing.com/) .  Annetta’s a professional.  She understands my process and deadlines and working with her is by far the best solution for me. 

I also work with a copy editor I know and trust (Terry Koch at http://beyondgrammar.com/).  After Terry’s done, the manuscripts go to my “Proofing Crew” who read for typos.  They’re the closest thing I have to beta readers.

How NOT to sell a million books

There are many books, blogs, articles, Youtube videos out there telling you how to sell a million books.  They are written by people who have achieved this goal or would have you believe they have achieved the goal.  Well done to them.  They are a success story.  But I am also a success story.  I have succeeded in NOT selling a million books.  And this is how I did it.
Blog

They tell you it is very important to have a blog to build your author platform and your footprint on the web.  It is relatively easy to set up a blog and it's free which is always good.  To get your blog noticed you have to find your niche.  As a very random person with a very random mind specialising in random thoughts and making random connections, my niche is total randomness.  However, this does not seem to be a popular niche for other bloggers and people who read blogs.  Unfortunately that is who I am and I write about things I see and what interests me.  Yes, I am the target audience apparently, or other random people like me who appear to be few and far between.  They also say always put an image on your blog.  I hope you like the image I included of autumn in Chernobyl.  It has nothing to do with the content of this post but that's the way I work, isn't it?
Guest Bloggers
They tell you to have guest bloggers post on your blog to extend your reach.  It's part of the whole networking thing.  I have done this for a couple of years and all it has succeeded in doing is making my blog even more random.
Virtual Book Tours
They tell you this is a great way to market your books.  I have tried this and forked over my hard-earned $30 to pay for other bloggers to advertise my books and host my guest posts on their blogs.  Finding the time to come up with content for my own blog is a mission and trying to come up with content for others' blogs is just putting unnecessary pressure on yourself.  Especially if time is at a premium.  To be fair this did help me sell a handful of books.  But a handful is not quite a million is it?
Commenting on others blogs
They say (and this is all theory) that when you comment on others' blogs they come back to comment on yours.  Bullshit.  Everybody is pressed for time.  Blog-hopping is very time-consuming and aren't we supposed to be spending some time actually writing our books?  When I first started doing my marketing I made an effort to comment on other blogs but don't think this generated any book sales.
Commenting on forums
They say become active on forums and you'll see sales spark.  The only spark is the sales burning up to ash.  On most forums authors frequent, all they are interested in is marketing their own book.  They don't give a flying monkey about your book.  And frankly, I find it difficult to feign an interest in Vampires and Fairies.  I am all about reality which it appears is what most people are trying to escape.  Forum commenting also takes up valuable time which I can ill afford and if you have internet hassles it becomes a lesson in frustration.
Social Networking
Ooo this is the biggie.  Join Facebook, Twitter, Shelfari, Goodreads, Google+, Linkedin etc.  Those that made a million tell you that this was how they did it.  People retweeted status updates about their books and that was how the word of mouth thing spread.  Seriously, have you seen how many authors spam their books on these social networking sites?  Do people really read those status updates?  I am not convinced.  They tell you that through social networking you engage with your readers.  Most people struggle to find the time to engage with all their friends on these sites.
Free book giveaways
They say that this is how you make your name known.  I have not found this particularly successful.  In fact, I was selling roughly 100 copies a day of my book Not Telling.  It even reached the top 500 on Amazon's best seller list.  Then I read some of those How I sold a million ebooks books and got greedy.  I took my books off Smashwords and went exclusive on Kindle Select.  I offered my books for free as part of their free promotion.  Thousands downloaded my free books.  And then my sales dried up.  It was as if my target audience all got a free copy of my books so that they didn't need to buy it anymore.
Pricing your books
When I first started out my books were priced at $2.99 so that I could get the 70% royalty.  After I gave books away for free and my sales started dropping, I lowered the price to $1.50.  This meant that I only got the 35% royalty.  They say if you keep the price low (even 99c has been bandied about) then you get the volume of sales and this makes up for the lower royalty.  I don't find you sell any more books at a lower price.  People will buy your book if it intrigues them regardless of whether it is $1.50 or $2.99.  The trick is just to find people who read the types of books you write.  I can't say that I have been particularly successful in this.
Know your target audience
They say that this is really important.  Some authors write specifically for their target audience.  They are the ones who sell a million books.  I tend to write what I like to read.  Books on the dark side, reality fiction and how people get through terrible situations.  I read books like Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn.  Susan Lewis, Jodi Picoult etc.  I enjoy writing my books and reading what I have written.  There is a target audience out there somewhere, people who like to read the same books I do but I have not been able to connect with them.  Maybe because I don't have a degree in marketing.  But probably because I haven't made enough of an effort.
Reviews
This is another biggie.  They say if you want to sell a million books you need to have a lot of reviews.  John Locke has admitted to buying reviews initially.  I don't have the money or the inclination to buy reviews.  My reviews are all genuine reviews from people who read my book.  Personally, I review every book I read.  The problem with reviews is not everybody who reads your book is your target audience.  If it's not Vampires and Fairies they might not like your dark reality fiction.  And then if your books are written in South African English because you are South African, then some readers don't get that you might spell words differently (color vs colour) and you might say things in a different way, and their review will be all about saying how poorly proofread your book was because of bad spelling and grammar.  Seriously.
Website
They say that you need your own website.  I have one http://cindyvine.com.  You need to update it regulary and put on new content.  Time....time....time.  But this has not helped me to sell a million books.
Write more books
They say that when you finish one book you need to start on another.  They say you have to be an expert at juggling your full-time job, writing and marketing and probably caring for your family at the same time.  When I write I struggle to find the time to market.  Then again, distractions are my bug bear in life.  I used to be quite disciplined in my writing then I discovered Candy Crush.  There is something relaxing in mindlessly killing candy.  These days I can only start my writing process after I have lost all 5 of my lives.  Then when that is finished I might watch some past episodes of Silent Witness on my laptop.  To NOT sell a million books you have to find a distraction.  Maybe if I stopped all distractions and wrote a million books, then if I sold only one copy a year of each book I'd make a million dollars.  Definitely something to think about.
Cindy Vine has somehow managed to sell 45 000 books in two and a half years through no fault of her own.  She currently lives and works in Kiev in the Ukraine and is the author of The Case of Billy B, Not Telling, Defective and CU@8.  If you think you might be her target audience, you are welcome to join her Facebook Page or befriend her on Twitter.

Writing tips for newbie authors

When I first started to write I wanted to read about other people's experiences with writing.  How they overcame the challenges and what tips they could share.  Why re-invent the wheel?  If we can learn from others then it's all the better for us.  Rebecca Graf, author of Deep Connections, shares the FIVE most important tips she learnt when starting out as a writer.

"There is no guide to becoming a writer. They might claim their books are the way to help you down that path, but they can’t be. Why? Because every writer is different and approaches writing in a different manner. But there are some things that every writer should know as they start out." Rebecca Graf

#1 – Characters Will Talk

People think I’m crazy when I say this, but I have no idea what is going to happen in the next chapter. Why not? The characters haven’t told me what is happening. You don’t know how many times I start writing and something different than I had imagined comes out of my fingers and onto the keyboard. I try to change it, but they won’t let me. Be prepared for the characters taking over. It’s their story after all.

#2 – The First Draft is Garbage

Don’t expect your first draft to be perfect. It won’t be. The story idea might be brilliant, but your initial writing will not be anywhere near publishable. My first draft of Dark Connections was only 25k words. I knew it could be better. I slept on it and went back over it. By the time I was done it was 85k in words. My first draft was garbage.

#3 – You Must Be Willing to Learn

You’re not perfect and neither is your writing. You’ll make mistakes and will need to change them. The best writers create inconsistencies. It happens. As a writer, you need to learn how to write better. There is always room to write better. You must be willing to learn. I met an aspiring author who refused to change any of her work. She did not want to be told to correct anything. She honestly felt that her first draft was the one to publish. Not!

#4 – Editing is the Hardest Part

You think writing is challenging? It’s the easy part. Editing is the hard part. You rewrite a scene to improve it only to find out that it impacts the story later on in the book. Now, you have to find all the places it impacts and fix it which might lead you to changing more scenes as you are inspired in your editing. You’ll delete whole passages and add dozens of new ones. You’ll add a new character and have to weave him in or you’ll kill one off and rewrite the ending.
Editing is hard!

#5 – Editing is Important

Don’t think your work doesn’t need editing and proofreading. The editing I mentioned above is your own editing of the material to create the final manuscript for submission. This editing is the one that a professional should do. Why? Because they are objective. They aren’t personally vested in it. They can see the problems more clearly. They can point out weak character development. As you write, you see it all in your mind. As a reader, they see something different.

Rebecca Graf worked as an accountant for 20 years before taking a chance at a dream. Starting off with writing online, she began to build a reputation and a number of followers. Now, she has one children's book, A Gift for a Mouse, published with Deep Connections being her first adult novel. She lives near Milwaukee, Wisconsin with her husband and three children as well as two cats, Oreo and Cookie, and two dogs, Bug and Mocha. Rebecca has started her own publishing company, Silver Tongue Press, with two partners. Their goal is to help new authors to achieve their dreams. She also spends her days crocheting and knitting....

Email: writingwithsuccess@gmail.com
Website: www.abookloverslibrary.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/RebbecaGraf
Twitter: @rebeccagraf
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Author Tips: Edit your book

Don't you just hate reading a book that has been poorly edited and proof-read?  This doesn't always happen with self-published authors, it happens with mainstream traditionally published authors as well.  And then you get even more mad when you spot typos!  I find when reading a self-published book I turn a blind eye to a couple of proof-reading mishaps, but when it happens in a traditionally published book I get angry.

If you want to hit the big-time with your books, you need to make sure they are professionally edited and you can't neglect that.  Same as you can't neglect a professional looking cover.

Professionally Edited Books Scream “Buy Me”

By Denise Turney

(Author – Love Pour Over Me (Available at Amazon.com, B&N, iTunes, etc.)

http://www.chistell.com)

True. It takes dedication and commitment to start and finish a book. There are the starts and stops, the times when, as an author, you doubt you have the skill to flesh out characters and develop engaging dialogue and riveting storylines. If you’re a working parent, not only must you meet the demands of a full-time job while creating your masterpiece, you also must find a way to nurture, guide and support your children. I can see you sitting up late nights staring at your computer monitor, waiting for a more robust plot to come to you, seemingly out of nowhere.

Day after day, week after week you kept at it, and now you have a full manuscript in your hands. You are to be commended on having completed your book. So, here’s to you. Go grab a cup of tea, coffee, whatever you like to drink, then come back for a bit of surprising news. . . .

You’ve just started. You see, writing a first draft is the easy part.  Now it’s time to start editing your novel. Although each writer is different, it’s recommended that you self-edit your manuscript at least two times. As a tip, if you find yourself defending parts of your manuscript (e.g. keeping a dialogue scene in when it doesn’t move the story forward), consider stepping away from the manuscript for a few days, maybe even as long as a week.

Tips to Improve the Self-Editing Process

To catch weak characters, unbelievable dialogue, run on sentences or abrupt time or scene shifts, consider reading the manuscript aloud. Your ears may pick up awkward spots in your story you would otherwise miss. You can also ask a friend to read a part of your manuscript to you over the telephone or in person. Pay attention to instances when the writing feels awkward or strained. Jot down the page numbers and paragraphs where this awkward writing occurs, so you can easily return to these scenes and edit them.

After the last self-edit is completed, submit the manuscript to a professional editor. Keep in mind that even the most talented authors hire professional editors to give their books a final edit.  A good way to find qualified and experienced book editors is to ask published authors for recommendations. Furthermore, directories and organizations like Book Market, Writer’s Digest, the National Writers Union and the National Association of Independent Writers and Editors include professional editors in their resource listings

Work With a Professional Critique Group

Should you feel you don’t have the finances to pay for the services of a professional book editor, you can join professional writers critique groups.  Both online and offline writers critique groups are available for you to join, whether you are a new or established writer.  For example, some writers groups meet at local libraries or bookstores. Most of these groups require members to regularly critique each others’ work.  For instance, writers might be required to read and critique two to three short stories, poems or novels that are written by other authors once a month in order to remain active in the critique group. The good news is that it’s generally free to join writers critique groups.

By having your book professionally edited or critiqued, you can spot and strengthen weak plots, improve the pace of various scenes and ensure your sentence structure is strong. Getting your book edited by a professional editor may also increase the chances that readers find the story flows smoothly. In addition, book reviewers may appreciate reading and spreading the word about your professionally written and edited novel.

Denise Turney:

 Denise Turney is a professional writer who brings more than thirty-two years of book, newspaper, magazine, radio and business writing to a project. She is the author of the books Portia, Love Has Many Faces, Spiral, Rosetta’s Great Adventure, Long Walk Up and Love Pour Over Me. Denise Turney is an internationally celebrated author who is listed in various entertainment and business directories, including industry leaders such as Who’s Who, 100 Most Admired African American Women and Crosswalk. Denise Turney’s works have appeared in Parade, Essence, Ebony, Madame Noire, The Pittsburgh Quarterly and Obsidian II.

 Title: Love Pour Over Me

Publisher: Chistell Publishing
Release date: March 2012
Website: http://www.chistell.com
Purchase Link: http://www.chistell.com/order.php

Introducing Andy Holloman

What I love about hosting Indie Authors on my blog, is that I am exposed to new authors I might never hear about.  Andy Holloman, author of Shades of Grey is one such author.  While y'all are reading his insprational message for authors and writers alike, I'm going to be downloading Shades of Grey onto my Kindle.
This Kindle was definitely my best investment of 2011.  Without any further ado, let me introduce you to Andy Holloman.

Reflections of a writer as 2011 draws to a close
So it's that time of year.  The time when all of us are suppose to get nostalgic and reflect upon the "soon to be ending" year and wax poetic regarding our goals for the upcoming year.  My response to this overdone pastime is "Bah Humbug!"

I had a pretty decent, no EXCELLENT, 2011.  So perhaps I should be more inclined to enjoy my accomplishment of having my first novel be published.  Hey, not bad!  Damn, now I'm stuck because it does feel mucho chic to be writing the phrase "my first novel ...published".   I can feel my earlier "bah humbug" melting away.  
So, here are my   THREE IMPORTANT PUBLISHING LESSONS I LEARNED IN 2011 - 

Lesson One -  Hold onto EVERYTHING you write.
For those of you who have that novel, memoir, or non-fiction book tucked away in a drawer, I did too.  In fact, my copy of my novel was SOOOOO old that it was saved on a 3.5 in. floppy disk!  Remember those!  I had shelved plans to be a published writer because, well, it just didn't seem like it was gonna happen.  I read the recommended books, polished my MS, and queried until my fingers bled.  I only received a few nibbles.  But I was realistic. I didn't expect an agent to scoop up my MS and shout from the highest mountain that they had just discovered the next bestseller. (Well, maybe I had a wee bit hope that it might happen!)
Because I had floated my MS out to members of a writing group I had joined in 2005, at the end of 2010, a friend from that group
advised me that she had passed my MS along to a local publisher and that they would want to publish it because they typically
went by her recommendation.  And she was right!  Finally, someone wanted to publish me and I hadn't done a thing for almost
5 years!!

Lesson Two -  Don't isolate.
Get into a writers group.  Network with authors, readers, anyone that you can find.  Work at it (and it truly is work).  Use Twitter to meet other authors.  Reach out to as many folks as you can.  There are millions of people like you who want to be writers and who have a MS and who need the EXACT same things that you do.  When you connect with folks who have the same needs as you, then it becomes very easy to swap MS's, critique, suggest connections, point folks to good websites, etc. 

Lesson Three -  Control your Publishing Experience.
Even though I received a publishing contract from TWO different publishers (both were small, indie publishers) I wasn't exactly blown away with what they could deliver in regards to helping me sell books.  By this time, I had also discovered that even the big boy publishing houses depend on authors to do MOST, if not all, of their marketing and promotions themselves.  There simply isn't any money floating around to assist new (read: unproven) authors.  Plus, even if you DO get a publishing offer from a BIG BOY company AND they throw some money into promoting your work, it is STILL VERY UNLIKELY that your book will sell enough copies to earn back the printing costs for your first print run. (Remember that a novel is labeled a "success" if it sells 5,000 copies.)
So take the step that I did and publish yourself.  I knew that I could promote my book effectively and I knew that I had a decent novel.  So I hired a cover designer, editor, and book production company to handle areas that I wasn't familiar with.  Then I got my book onto Amazon, BN, and a few other places.  Hey, I'm a published author!  It all happened on a much faster timeline than would normally be the case and I was involved with every step.  I made the final decisions on everything.  I also have control over the PRICING of my book, which is a HUGE advantage and a lengthier topic than can be addressed here.
Unless you truly do have the next bestseller (but don't be fooled into thinking that ANYONE can predict this) or you have some
insider connection to the publishing world, sending your book out to agents and hoping for a publishing offer is akin to winning
the lottery (only book publishing pays MUCH MUCH less). So don't pin your hopes on the lottery. Take control of your publishing
experience as I did.

So, against my better judgement, I have just written down my "year in review" for 2011.  It was a very special year for me, so I've earned the right to shout out a little.  Make 2012 YOUR year to publish.  It can happen.
Have a great 2012,
Andy Holloman

And if you'd like to know a little more about Andy, here's his bio.

Just like the protagonist in my novel, Shades of Gray,  I was the owner of  travel agency for 12 years (mostly in the 90′s).  But this is the only similarity between myself and John Manning!   (I never ventured into the cocaine business, I swear.)
 I grew up in Greenville, NC and graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a degree in Economics.  All through high school and college, I was notorious for scribbling out stories and ideas for novels (hey, this was before wordprocessors!)  and always kept them in a top secret shoe box. (and the box is so top secret that I’ve been trying to find it for 15 years!).
       After college, I fell into the travel industry by accident and was able to grow a travel business  into an Inc. 500 company.  The agency grew  through the use of the Internet and by acquiring three other companies.  Late in the 1990’s, I became familiar with the story of one of the my company’s clients who was murdered in Durham, NC and was a suspected drug smuggler.    This story and the subsequent downfall of the travel agency industry (and my company)  after 9/11,  planted a seed in my head that grew into my first published novel, Shades of Gray.  I began writing this novel in 2003, shelved after completion in 2006, and revived in 2011 thanks to a great friend from a writers group in Cary, NC.
      Today, I live in the Raleigh, NC area.  I am the father of three,  and have been happily married for 20 years.  I enjoy (mostly) attending my kids sporting and school events, supporting the local real estate industry, and watching fine films with my wonderful wife.  Whenever possible, I enjoy the beauty of North Carolina’s mountains,  running, camping, and short walks on the beaches of the Outer Banks (several references to OBX in my book) .    I am also an avid reader (time permitting), and a social media goofball.   Most evenings I can be found tapping out my next novel,  due for release in late 2013.   Stay tuned!