Tag Archives: Indie authors

Indie Author Day 2 Wrap-Up – Thanks KCLS, PNWA and Indie Authors!

by in author platform, Local Authors, Local Events, Rachel Barnard and tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

I love the library. They are such an invaluable resource in our community and KCLS (King County Library System) is the 13th largest in the nation! I’ve used them for books, audiobooks, CD’s, DVD’s, printing, research, community space, meetings, and more! Indie Author Day is another wonderful program put on by the library and I was happy to have a booth and the opportunity to speak about my experiences as an Indie Author in my own presentation!

Thanks to PNWA for sponsoring the snacks table and for all the wonderful information they provided for authors and participants.

At 11, Jenni Conner and D.V. Berkom discussed Conception without Deception: The Birth of Your Story Without the Pitfalls. At noon, Pam Stucky confronted a common challenge in Fear, Failure, and the Fallacy of Writer’s Block: Getting Out of Your Own Way. At 1, Rachel Barnard talked about how to celebrate a new book in New Book Release Checklist: Planning a Fun and Inviting Launch. Did you miss the panels? Here is the link to my downloadable pdf of the book release checklist.

In addition to the presentations, twenty authors were in attendance to share their books, their self-publishing or indie publishing experiences, and their tips and tricks for marketing and promotion. Authors and editors who attended included Kristin Alana, Rachel Barnard, D.V. Berkom, Pam Binder, Tom Blaschko, D.K. Cassidy, Jennifer Connor, Nicanor Garcia, Josephine Hao, Sara Lynn Hoyt, Sheleen Napar, M.E. Palmer, Deborah Schneider, Pam Stucky, Michel Visger, Marcus Ward, and David Workman.

Event Alert! Indie Author Day with KCLS at the Issaquah Library Service Center (WA)

by in Author Thursdays, Local Authors, Local Events, Rachel Barnard and tagged , , ,

Indie Author Day is October 8th – this Saturday! Come down to the KCLS Service Center and greet 25 local Indie Authors!

10am – 11am – Meet & Greet with Authors – you will be at your table to greet the public

11am – Noon – National Live Streaming Q & A with writers, agents and industry leaders. Panelists include: Moderator Jon Fine, (formerly of Amazon), Robin Cutler, Kiera Parrott, Jim Blanton, L. Penelope.

Link to panelists: http://indieauthorday.com/blog/streaming-at-a-library-near-you/

Noon – 12:30 – Meet & Greet with Authors

12:30 – 1:30pm – Panel Discussion: Amazon Author Opportunities

1:30 – 2pm – Meet & Greet with Authors

2pm – 3pm – Panel Discussion: Using Self-e

Buy, Read, Review and Win! $5 for November and $50 end of year contest

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promo contest

My first type of contest runs new monthly (click here for link to contest page); with the final contest for $5 gift card this month in November. All you have to do is purchase a book! Not just any book, though, one from my reviews list that I’ve rated 4.5 stars or higher.

I have books in multiple genres to choose from and I’ll be adding new books to choose from every week. You have until the end of the month to provide proof of purchase and you’ll be entered to win a $5 Amazon gift card. Sweet, yeah?

I’m also hosting a $50 Amazon gift card contest! All you have to do is write a review of three stars or higher for one of the books you purchased from my list.

Here’s the $50 contest entry link:

 $50 Amazon Gift Card Drawing: Entries Open June Now Until December 31, 2015

Leave a review of 3 stars or higher of any of those 4.5 rated or higher books now until the end of the year to get entered into a drawing to win a $50 Amazon gift card. Help support Indie authors!

Buy, Read, Review and Win! $5 monthly and $50 end of year contest

by in author platform, Miscellaneous Mondays and tagged , , ,

promo contest

My first type of contest runs new monthly (click here for link to contest page); with one in June, July, August, September, October, and November. All you have to do is purchase a book! Not just any book, though, one from my reviews list that I’ve rated 4.5 stars or higher.

I have books in multiple genres to choose from and I’ll be adding new books to choose from every week. You have until the end of the month to provide proof of purchase and you’ll be entered to win a $5 Amazon gift card. Sweet, yeah?

 

I’m also hosting a $50 Amazon gift card contest! All you have to do is write a review of three stars or higher for one of the books you purchased from my list.

Here’s the $50 contest entry link:

 $50 Amazon Gift Card Drawing: Entries Open June Now Until December 31, 2015

Leave a review of 3 stars or higher of any of those 4.5 rated or higher books now until the end of the year to get entered into a drawing to win a $50 Amazon gift card. Help support Indie authors!

Miscellaneous Mondays: My Favorite Indie Authors 6 – David Estes

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I’ve had David Estes’ The Moon Dwellers on my TBR list for a while. I think I found his book on a promo day and was intrigued by the back page summary. I love dystopian and YA, so the Dwellers Saga was a good looking fit for me.

Check him out on my Indie Stars Page here.

From the first few pages I was hooked. David Estes is one of my new favorite authors and I had a hard time putting down his books. I have read the first three books in his Dwellers Saga and have been waiting to read the Country Saga and finally the Earth Dwellers after giving some attention to some other authors, but I know that I will love each and every new book I read of Estes. He is phenomenal. He is my author hero. He has done something that is difficult to find in YA books. He has balanced the narrative between two main characters, one is a female and the other is a male. Both characters are equally important. Both characters have something to say. Both characters are strong yet vulnerable. Both characters are uniquely different. For this reason and more David Estes is a great writer. His story is compelling and fits nicely into the YA Dystopian genre. There is action and fighting and romance in his books. There is struggle and perseverance. There is death. There is survival. I look forward to all the other books David Estes has written.

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Miscellaneous Mondays: My Favorite Indie Authors 4/5 – T.B. Markinson

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I found T.B. Markinson from a Goodreads Review group. The book was Marionette and I fell in love. I was so excited to see that Markinson had other books I could read and was going to release Claudia Must Die in December. I was hooked, but I didn’t read all her books immediately. I wanted to save them, savor them, cherish the reading time I spent with them. I have since read all but A Woman Lost and I’m super psyched that Markinson is working on the sequel!

T.B. Markinson is on my list of Indie stars to watch out for because she writes such good books. I’ve read all her books and in each of her four books (thus far, but I’m hoping for more) she has hooked me from the very first sentence to the first paragraph to the first page and on throughout the entire novel to the very end. I’ve never read such a great opener as the one in Marionette. Markinson had me hooked and I couldn’t put it, or any of her other books, down. And now I want more. Markinson delivers a smooth writing style that is descriptive without giving away too much. Her characters are alive and have a depth and personality that rivals anyone you might meet in real life. But the characters were so much more than alive, they were larger than life and I wanted to stay in their lives indefinitely, but they were still very relatable. The situations Markinson writes about are intriguing and the dialogue is realistic and, at many times, quite witty. One of the reasons I really like Markinson as an author is that she always (so far) uses female characters as her protagonists and many of her other characters as well.

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Check back next Monday for the week’s Indie Author Rising Star 5/5

Miscellaneous Mondays: My Favorite Indie Authors 3/5 – Tyan Wyss

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I found out about Tyan Wyss on Facebook and have not met her in person. She writes under two names, Tyan Wyss and Loren Lockner. She has written a number of books under each name, but I will focus on the Tyan Wyss books as those are the ones I have read and love and I can vouch for them.

Tyan Wyss is on my list of Indie stars to watch out for because her writing style is concise and fully formed. She doesn’t fall into common mistakes like rookie authors. She knows what she’s doing and her books are immensely fun to read. The stories are fully fledged and immerse you in their intrigue. The author layers her plot and her motives like an expert, giving her books a higher degree of elegance than other authors. Wyss has a smooth and charming personable writing style.

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Check back next Monday for the week’s Indie Author Rising Star 4/5

How I Write a Book Review

by in Author Tuesdays, Book Review, NaNoWriMo and tagged | 1 Comment
NaNo Throwback photo

 

I am giving back to the writing community. You can too! By writing reviews for other authors, usually Indie authors, I am helping them and helping myself. In thoughfully picking at a book, I can learn about myself as a writer and a reader and learn a thing or two about writing in the process.

The following is my review policy and format of my reviews, as shown on my reviews tab:

I am not a professional reviewer, however, I am an avid reader and writer and know a thing or two about writing and books. Each review is based on my own personal thoughts and interpretations of the book and will be an honest review.

I do not take payment for reviews.

I do not work on any set deadlines as I have a busy schedule and will not always get to the book in as timely a manner as I would like.

At this time I prefer print books and will not return any materials that are sent to me.

Reviews will be posted on my blog first and foremost and then after a period of time they will be placed on Amazon and Goodreads. If the author so wishes, I can post the review on other sites as well.

 

The type of books that I like to review are (In no particular order):

Young Adult,

Fantasy,

Science Fiction,

Historical Fiction,

Speculative Fiction,

General Fiction

 

If you are an Indie author looking for a great reader who enjoys most books, my TBR list is shrinking rapidly, and I will be on the lookout for more great prospects. Note, however, that I prefer physical copies for my reading pleasure.