Highlight on Indie Books: The Mumbo Jumbo Circus by Jane George

The Mumbo Jumbo Circus by Jane George


When the enigmatic Ringmaster asks 15-year-old Evanja (Evan) Leane to run away and join the circus, she says yes. Anywhere’s got to be better than foster home Number Eight. Evan learns that this ragtag circus, a haven for throwaway teens, relies on more than spectacle and illusion. This circus is built on magic. Each of the teens possesses a donvrai, a true gift, that manifests only in the presence of the Ringmaster’s mysterious Ju-Ju. Unlike many of the other teens who must wait for their donvrai to emerge, Evan’s gift surfaces on her first night: she can read horses’ minds. This would be totally awesome except she has been deathly afraid of horses since foster home Number Three. But circus is a dying art. If Evan wants to save her beloved new-found home, she must concoct a brilliant horse act that will bring in the crowds. And she’d better get over herself and get on with it fast; there’s a traitor close to the Ringmaster who will stop at nothing to make sure she doesn’t succeed. 


(Description from Goodreads.)

While I was on vacation, I read a jillion books (okay, seven, but that's almost a jillion), and this was one of them. Even though I also read bestsellers like The Hunger Games -- yes, I finally read The Hunger Games, you can stop badgering me now -- The Mumbo Jumbo Circus stuck out to me as special. I don't have too much to say about it even though I loved it, since I read it almost two weeks ago now and most of my remarks have been forgotten, but I will say that you absolutely shouldn't miss this book.

The mark of a good YA novel is if it leaves you feeling a sense of wonder, and The Mumbo Jumbo Circus does that and more.  Jane George has written an awesome tale with a colorful cast of characters. I highly recommend it. You can find it on Amazon here.

Home!

I'm back safe and sound from my awesome trip! I got a surprising amount of work done (like finishing editing The 19 Dragons!), saw tons of stuff, and ate JILLIONS of croissants. I have to make getting the house in order a priority. It's nuts how much goes to pot when you leave it alone for 2.5 weeks. I'll start catching up on everything Wednesday, including interviews and new blogs and suchlike, so I'm sorry if you guys get super delayed blog comments in the meantime. ;)

And just wait until you see the pictures!

Paid Reviews for Indie Authors

Let's be honest: Indie authors don't have much street cred (yet).  Most major, legitimate reviewers will not review your book.  This includes Kirkus Reviews, the New York Times Book Review, and Publishers Weekly. Reviews are one of the best ways to get your book out there, so it's too bad we don't have access to this.

However, there are a lot of websites out there who are happy to write a review for you-- for a price.  In fact, Kirkus even has a branch for that called Kirkus Indie.  Many authors, understanding the value of a good review, will pay for this, but you will not find prestige here, either.  These reviews will not help get your book into libraries or get you exposure.

I am not in favor of paid reviews.  A website offering this service asked my opinion on their site, and I gave them my honest thoughts: Indie writers need better tools for building communities and reaching readers, not another way to empty their wallets.  (There may be paid promotional opportunities that are worthwhile, but a blurb of this kind is not.)

My reviews have all come from book bloggers, who do this because they love to read-- not for money.  They're very helpful and honest.  I've received glowing praise and constructive criticism alike.  This is the best we indies can hope for, and it will help get your name around in the circles of book lovers, which is where you want to be known.

If you need reviews, find people who blog about your genre.  Do not pay money (sometimes hundreds of dollars) for someone to write about your book.  They are usually (though not always) taking advantage of an indie author's eagerness to be as professional as possible, when there are much better ways to go about it.

Indie authors will not find legitimacy by throwing money around.  We will become legitimate by writing good books.  That's where you should be spending your money-- editors and cover designers.

What do you think, indies?  Do you agree/disagree?  Have you paid for reviews, and if so, were you satisfied with the outcome?

And a final cookie post

One last cookie post before I return from vacation next week!  This time, I got a little creative, with surprising results.

Going a couple weeks without groceries inspires me to get creative with my baking.  Very creative.  (Don't worry, it's not due to lack of money.  Just lack of motivation.)  I really have to go get food at some point, though, or we're going to have to grill the placenta in my freezer for dinner.  Kidding!  Kidding.

Cookies it is, then!  (Not placenta cookies, I promise.)

Although I have no butter, I seem to recall a discussion about baking chocolate chip cookies with extra virgin olive oil.  I don't remember where I read it, but the baker insisted the result was tasty.  And hey, I'm bad at baking anyway!  What have I to lose?

Rather than looking up a recipe, I decided to just jump in.  Surprise surprise.



I started by creaming together the oil with a little Splenda (I told you I'm running out of real ingredients) and a lot of brown sugar.  As usual, I didn't measure any of it out.  It was probably 1/2 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup Splenda, and 3/4 cup brown sugar... or somewhere thereabouts.

The resulting smell was interesting, to say the least.

Incidentally, I also don't have any eggs.  Oh no!  Whatever shall I use as a binder?  Maybe... the last 1/4 cup of unsweetened applesauce lurking in my fridge?


This is after a little baking soda (okay, a lot, I tipped the box over too far) and vanilla.  Oh dear, my giant bottle of vanilla from Mexico is half-empty!  Or half-full.  Either way, I need to get on another cruise, stat.  I miss you Cabo.  Don't forget about me.  <3 <3 <3

I still had some all-purpose whole wheat flour lurking in the pantry, so I threw the rest of that in.  It's not the finely-ground pastry flour I've been using.  It will add a somewhat grainy texture to the cookie.  I've found this is best in oatmeal and peanut butter cookies, passable in chocolate chip cookies, and unacceptable in sugar cookies.

After I added some normal, all-purpose flour, I took off the rings and got to kneading.

Did I mention I only have white chocolate chips?  I only have white chocolate chips.


That looks... um... interesting.

I began to get a little concerned about the dough at this point.  It was more crumbly than expected.  Were my eyeballed estimations off?  Had I just wasted a half cup of olive oil?  And were these cookies going to taste as strange as they smelled?

Only one way to find out!



The dough wasn't even sticking together on the pan.  I decided that was probably a pretty good indicator they weren't going to spread very much and threw them all on the cookie sheet together.  I think I fit about twenty cookies there.

I set the oven to 350F, the timer to 12 minutes, and went to hang out with the ever-present Helpful Baby.


Aww.  How could you resist?  You can't, that's how.

Twelve minutes passed.  Dun dun duuun.



Wow.

These are actually really good-looking cookies.  They spread perfectly.  The smell improved in the oven (not that it was bad in the first place).  After letting them cool a bit, I was pleasantly surprised to find they also have an amazing texture and interesting, woodsy flavor about them.  The taste isn't really evocative of olive oil at all.

While I wouldn't say these are like traditional chocolate chip cookies, I would say that they're just as good in a very different way.  I'm stunned.  It's not even the olive oil, really.  It's that I actually baked something edible without Googling for a dozen recipes first.




Well, you know what they say about a million monkeys with a million typewriters. They'll eventually bake something tasty. Or something like that.

Things I've Learned About Social Networking

When I began promoting my book, I really had no clue what I was doing.  I heard that social networks were useful and that there were something called "book bloggers."  Knowing that, I dove into promotion head-first and have since dedicated several hours a day, every day, to promoting myself and my book in the hopes of building a little hype before its release.

A strange thing happened over the weeks and months.  I stopped trying to promote anything and started having a lot of fun.  Somehow, this had the opposite effect to what I expected.  My followers and hits have drastically increased, and they continue to rise.  So this is the main thing I learned:

Be friendly.  Be genuine.


The point of social networking is to be social.  You aren't just out there to sell your books-- you're out there to make friends, learn things, have awesome conversations, and help other people share their work, too.  By giving people a helping hand, they'll want to return it, but you can't expect anything in return.  Simply getting your name out (a lot) and being friendly is enough to attract a reasonable amount of attention.

Now, my stats are very modest in comparison to many established indie authors, but I've been at this less than two months and I don't even have a book out yet.  I'm very proud of myself!  But more importantly, I've made some really awesome new friends online.

So make sure you're accessible.  People who know and like you will want to help you out, especially if you do the same in return.  And enjoy yourself!  It's a long, uphill road, so you might as well have fun on the way.

Away in Denmark

We're all still in Europe today and having an amazing time!  I've been so many awesome places that I only dreamed of as a kid, so this is really amazing for me.

We spent all last week in France, and now we're in Denmark.  We're going to go to the Viking Ship Museum at Roskilde (also known as the Vikingeskibsmuseet-- wow!).  Traveling with a baby is intense and the keyboards here are nuts.  All the letters are in the wrong place!  It takes eons to type anything.

I can't wait to get home to my Twitter friends and back to blogging.  But for now, adieu! (See, I even speak French now!)

Helpful Baby Fridays: Foetal edition

I'm in Europe, so I haven't had time to upload anything new of the baby.  Sorry!

Aren't ultrasounds nuts these days?  This came from a 3D scan I got when I was 24 weeks pregnant-- almost a year ago!  Hard to believe my seven month old chubster looked like this eleven months ago, huh?  Compare it to his very first blurry cell phone photo as a newborn.  See the resemblance?

Helpful Baby has helpfully tried not to throw fits on the airplanes (although that's a lot to expect from a little guy on a long flight!) and by helpfully insisting on nursing even when we're in awkward places and Europeans are staring at us.  I love you, Helpful Baby!  Thanks for making traveling hard!  (I'm just teasing; it's so worth it.)

How is your Helpful Baby helping you this week?  Post a picture of your baby on your blog (whether s/he be an infant, fur baby, or helper of any other persuasion), share a fun story about them, and drop a link in the comments!

The cookies strike back!

I'm still on vacation!  I ran out of filler blog post ideas until I come back, so here's a recipe for sugar-free rolled peanut butter I originally wrote back around Christmas. Enjoy!


Peanut butter cookies were the first cookie I ever made.  They weren't very good.  They came out hard, crumbly, and without a lot of flavor.  My peanut butter cookies have vastly improved since then, and I have a couple tried and true recipes now (yes, there are a couple things I can bake without it coming out like hell).
So of course, once I've got something down, I have to try to screw it up!  What do you think, Helpful Baby?



Yeah!  Woo hoo!  Cookies!  (His enthusiasm is so infectious.)

It's very nearly Christmas (editor's note: it's May is totally almost Christmas, okay??), and I haven't gotten to use my Christmas cookie cutters yet this year.  Instead of doing my usual, predictable (but lovely) peanut butter cookies smushed down by a fork, I thought I would adapt this recipe to make rolled peanut butter cookies without sugar.  My sister can't eat sugary crap, so I am a kind soul who will happily make her sugarless crap instead.

I often like to bake as healthy as possible.  This is not one of those times.  Holidays are tough for people trying to eat healthy, but that doesn't mean you can skimp on the cookies!  They have to be fatty and sweet.  They're cookies!  Just stick to one.  Maybe two.  Don't cheat, I'm watching you.

So this is the kind of stuff you want to get together.




Except, uh, leave out the milk.  And grab your whole wheat pastry flour.  And scrub  your counter before putting everything on it, because it's a lot harder to do after.  You know what, just don't pay attention to that photo, I don't know what I was doing.  Here are the ingredients:

- 1/2 cup fat (I forgot to ask my husband for butter at the store, so I'm still using shortening, bleh)
- 1 cup peanut butter
- 3/4 cup Splenda
- 3/4 cup sugar-free maple syrup
- 2 eggs
- 1 tbsp vanilla
- 2 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1 helpful baby*

* Optional as always, but highly recommended.

Splenda, as chronic dieters and diabetics know, is a non-nutritive sweetener called sucralose.  Your body doesn't digest it, so it has no impact on your blood sugar. It's also disgusting. But putting anything in cookies makes it edible, so there you go.

I substituted sugar-free maple syrup for brown sugar.  Maple syrup has a lovely flavor that nicely complements peanut butter.  So lovely, in fact, my husband will smear peanut butter on his pancakes, drizzle syrup on top, and then mash it all together.  Deranged.  But I love him.

Anyhoo, dump your peanut butter, Splenda, syrup, and fat (preferably butter, sigh) in one bowl and cream it together.



Once you get that together, mix in your vanilla and eggs.

In another bowl, combine your flour with your salt, baking soda, and baking powder.  I use whole wheat pastry flour instead of that all-purpose white junk.  It doesn't taste quite the same, but it's slightly better for you.  I think whole wheat tastes better with peanut butter and/or oatmeal cookies anyway, but it does take some getting used to.  If you don't usually bake with whole wheat, you might want to split it half whole wheat, half all-purpose.



See?  I used two separate bowls!  It's almost like I know what I'm doing!

Honestly, I usually don't separate it out like this.  I know it's a baking faux pas, but I'll cream my fat and sugar together, then add the baking soda/powder and/or salt, and then mix in the flour.  Then there's one less bowl to wash!  Yeah, I'm that lazy.  You can be lazy too.  Don't worry, I won't tell anyone.

For the purposes of the blog, I actually did things The Right Way.  If you did it, too, now is the time you want to start slowly mixing your wet and dry ingredients.  And if you did it the lazy way, no one will hear about it from me.


Take off your rings and get your hands all up in that.  We're forming a fairly stiff dough here.  Ooh yeah baby.

Once everything is all mixed up in a nice ball, cover it up and chill for a couple hours.

I took this opportunity to break out the food processor and destroy some candy canes for another cookie recipe, which threw the Helpful Baby into a screaming fit because apparently the noise is scary even when he's in his distractingly fun Jumperoo.  Oh well.  So much for the candy cane cookies.

After a couple hours of consoling an offended baby, I pulled the dough out and rolled it one-handed (ergo the lack of pictures) while cuddling my once-Helpful, now-Dubious Baby with the other arm.  You probably want the dough about a half inch thick.  I got 36 cookies out of it; your mileage may vary.


Bake for as long as you feel like it.  I dunno.  Ten minutes is good.

Yeah I'm baking on aluminum foil again.  You got a problem with it?  Haters gonna hate.




They should be easy to get off the sheet when they're done.  Set those suckers to cool on a baking rack.  Mmm, smells good.  They're soft and delicious on their own, but you can decorate them with sugar-free icing if you want to make them even better.

Is it a gingerbread man, or a reindeer face?  I'll let you decide.

Guest Post: I Don't Need No Stinking Editor

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before…

You find a blurb for the coolest-sounding self-published book ever, and smack that “Buy now with 1-Click” button like a fully-engorged mosquito sucking its dinner out of your ass. You download the shiny gem to your Kindle, rub your hands together, and open it, only to find the first page littered with typos, spelling mistakes, and poorly constructed sentences.

You’re not alone. We’ve all been snowed by a steaming pile of puppy poo disguised as Godiva chocolate.

Grumble. Hiss. Crappy self-published authors giving the rest of us a bad name…

“Well, I have nothing to worry about,” you say. “I don’t need an editor because I’m made of awesome. That whole Jacqueline Howett thing would never happen to a fantastic writer like me. Besides, who has the money to pay those money-grubbing vultures, anyway?”

If you don’t have the money, take out a freaking loan, honey. A self-published writer needs an editor like a baby needs diapers. If someone doesn’t catch all that mess before it leaks out the sides, everyone locked in the indie submarine is taking a dive on a number of uncomfortable levels. Shit stinks. Period.

NOBODY writes a perfect novel. Not Stephen King. Not Nora Roberts. Certainly not you.

At least, not without help.

I am a writer. I also freelance edit on the side for a boutique publisher, but I still hired an editor to eyeball my upcoming self-published trilogy. Here’s why:

1. A fresh pair of objective eyes can gauge how your audience might react to your story. A good editor understands the market and knows what’s hot. He or she will offer advice about how to amp up your heroine’s kick-ass factor, alpha-fy your beta hero, take your point of view deeper—whatever is necessary to satisfy the hungry masses.
2. After a hundred critique partners and beta readers have sliced and diced your manuscript six ways to Sunday, it’s easy to lose sight of the story. There may be entire scenes you don’t even recognize any more. An editor can help you readjust your lens, focus on what’s important, and show you what’s not.
3. Like a lot of people, I’m seduced by the empty promises of my “darlings”—those momentum-robbing scenes we love with all our hearts but can’t bear to ax. Deep down, I know they’re bad for the book, but I can’t let them go without confirmation from someone I trust. When a professional tells me to cut the cord, it’s time to pay my respects to the scene and kiss it goodbye. A week later, I don’t miss it.
4. Even though I’m good at catching other people’s mistakes, intimacy with my own manuscript tends to cause selective blindness. For example: six appearances of the word door in a three-sentence paragraph; a bra instead of a bar that escapes the spellchecker’s notice with a triumphant giggle; a missing word that changes the entire meaning of a sentence. A good editor has crap-seeking capabilities that can blast those pesky typo bastards out of existence in a single pass. (By the way, did you notice I used "that" three times in this bullet point? A good editor would have. :-)
5. Characterization, pacing, plot holes, world building, goal, motivation, conflict…Blah blah blah. I could go on for days about all the other reasons to have a solid editor shake up your words, but I’ll have to save these for another post.

If you plan to self-publish, hire a professional editor—or, at the very least, enlist the services of an experienced critique group—before sending your baby into the world alone and diaper-less. It’s cold and lonely out there, and you don’t want some mean old reviewer like Sara calling your sweet pea stinky. :-)  (Editor's Note: The only sweet pea I call stinky is my own, but that's because he usually is!)

---

Kendall Grey is a whale educator, urban fantasy writer, and freelance editor. She lives near Atlanta, Georgia with her ghost husband, a random rainbow, a gossamer-winged fairy, a wild imp, and a ferocious miniature long-haired Dachshund that keeps them all in line. INHALE, the first book in her JUST BREATHE trilogy, will be released in May 2012.

Find Kendall online!
Website - Facebook - Twitter

Interview with Roy Pickering, author of "Patches of Gray"

Roy Pickering was kind enough to join us for an interview today.  Thanks Roy!  You can find his website at http://www.roypickering.net/, and his blog at http://lineaday.blogspot.com/.

What are your current projects?
I am currently editing my second novel, Matters of Convenience.  A brief excerpt from the first draft can be found at my blog.  After that, I’m rather curious myself to see what will come next.  Perhaps I’ll write some short stories as it’s been a little while since I last penned one.  Maybe I’ll give writing a children’s book a shot, something I’ve been promising to do in collaboration with my wife who is a very talented illustrator.  Or I might jump right into novel #3, though at this point I do not have a plot in mind for it.

Where do you see the future of indie publishing going?
Ebooks aren’t going away any time soon and neither is affordable Print on Demand services.  This means that the rapidly growing indie publishing movement is here for the long haul.  As with traditional publishing, some of the cream will rise to the top.  So will gimmicky titles that come out at just the right time and find a wide audience.  Awful writing will continue to be ignored.  And unfortunately, some terrific writing will remain largely undiscovered as well.  In other words, same old same old regardless of whether books are being put out by publishing giants or little engines that could.  The fates of electronic reading devices and indie authors are tied together because there is very little start up cost to putting out an ebook, so authors don’t need to charge very much for them.  This means device owners will be willing to take a chance on authors they've never heard of before.  But they won’t continue doing so if they don’t find gems.  When the great indie books are found, word of mouth hopefully will propel them in the absence of big marketing budgets.  I do not believe that in the particularly near future everyone will have a device and printed books will go the way of the dinosaur.  So indie authors should not ignore pubbing their books as printed paperbacks if they have the resources.  Holding a book in hand is a wonderful way to read a story and will continue to be so.

Which authors and books are your greatest influences?
Great novels by amazingly talented authors don’t so much influence as they inspire me, not to try to write like them, but to work hard at writing in my own unique voice.  Among those I return to time and time again are Gabriel Garcia Marquez, John Irving, Toni Morrison, Tim Robbins, Cormac McCarthy, John Updike, Philip Roth, Tim Sandlin, Richard Russo, Walter Mosley.  That’s just the tip of the iceberg.  I believe in quality, quantity and diversity when it comes to my reading, and also when it comes to my writing for that matter.

To continue that question, what indie authors do you most admire?
Carole Sutton, Elizabeth Blake and Todd Fonseca are a few whose books I’ve enjoyed.  Some indie titles I have shelved at home that are on my To Read list are books by Jennifer Topper, Maura Stone and Jo Lynne Valerie.  I’m sure the number of indie authors that I’m a fan of will continue to grow as I become familiar with more of them.  Without the support of major marketing campaigns it takes them a little longer to reach my radar.  The same of course can be said of readers finding out about my writing, which is why I’m grateful for bloggers such as yourself who put needed spotlight on us.

What's the deepest, darkest secret you're willing to share?
The chicken and the egg came at precisely the same time.  That’s why they’re still happily together.

Highlight on Indie Books: Meant to Be by Tiffany King

Meant to Be by Tiffany King

Krista Miller feels like she has lived her entire life in a glass box with her every emotion on display. She can’t help feeling like a defect as her sensitivities have made her socially inept and without any real friends; the one exception being the boy that visits her each night in her dreams.

Krista’s emotions are put to the test when a move to California triggers a devastating change to her fantasy world. The nightly comfort that the boy provides has now become a recurring nightmare as he is taken from her by an unseen force.

Struggling to appear normal, Krista enrolls in a new school and finds it to be nothing like she thought. Her new life is sent spiraling out of control from a strange connection with a boy, Mark, who claims to know all her secrets.

As Krista begins to explore the emotions that Mark evokes in her, secrets from their past about their shared connection threatens to separate them just when they have found each other.

I "met" the author of this book on Twitter, where she's well-known as a friendly crusader for her fellow indie authors.  She's one of the nicest people I've run into, so I knew I had to pick up her book.

Meant to Be stuck with me after I began reading it and insisted on being finished.  I breezed right through it.  The idea was intriguing and well-developed, and it definitely made me curious to know more about it.  As an old married lady, I love reading books with stable relationships in them (I know, I'm so boring), so it was great getting a whole universe based around stable couples.

The heroine wasn't my cup of tea-- I'm kind of a mannish lady myself, so sensitive girls who steer by emotion and the desires of their man don't do it for me.  Since this is totally personal preference, I can't imagine it would bother most readers. The heroine reminded me quite a lot of Bella from Twilight, and she's considered a beloved character in most circles.

In fact, I'm confident readers of Twilight will love this book.  It's a paranormal romance in the same vein as that series-- most of the book was about developing the main characters and their relationship/attraction, with the drama saved for the end.  There's something special about getting to enjoy a relationship without tension.  I think it would have been nice to introduce the conflict a little sooner (being the action-driven sort myself), but it's kind of nice to kick back and read a story without drama once in awhile.


Fans of Twilight should absolutely pick up Meant to Be by Tiffany King, as well as anyone else who likes an intriguing paranormal romance.  This book is totally rocking Twitter and I'm interested to read the sequel.


Meant to Be can be purchased as an ebook and in paperback at Amazon.

Are You Ready for the Reading Revolution?

Aloha!  I'm on vacation.  (Not in Hawaii, unfortunately, but it's almost as good.)  A series of guest contributors will be sharing their thoughts on writing and indie publishing in the time I'm gone.


Our first contributor is friend-of-the-blog Ron Vitale.  Thanks for writing, Ron!


For decades, people have been glued to their television screens sitting down watching endless hours of content (many of which turn your brain to mush). But a new study from ReadItLater has data showing that people are using their iPads during prime time TV watching hours. Here is the take home message from the report: "When a reader is given a choice about how to consume their content, a major shift in behavior occurs.  They no longer consume the majority of their content during the day, on their computer.  Instead they shift that content to prime time and onto a device better suited for consumption."


What I find interesting about this is that owners of the iPad are using the device to pull up books or webpages and read. I would have thought that people would be streaming Netflix to the devices or renting TV shows in iTunes, but according to the data from ReadItLater many iPad users are pulling up content to read from the hours of 7 p.m. - 11 p.m. As the devices we can purchase are becoming more mobile and conducive for readers, our choices for where we will read are beginning to change. I've not had the opportunity to use an iPad for an extended amount of time, but I have tried the Kindle reader app on the Droid X and the iPhone. I've not found the reading experience to be enjoyable as the screen is too bright (no matter how much I turn the light level on the devices down). Interestingly, I have tried a Kindle and I did enjoy the feel of the device in my hand and the brightness (or lack of it). After staring at a computer screen all day, coming home and reading on a bright device isn't what I am looking forward to--though I'm writing this on my laptop during prime time TV hours.


I'm an early adopter, but we haven't seen maturity come to the iPads and the iPhones yet. I suspect that as these devices become ever more popular (who would have thought that more than 47 million iPads would be sold since April 2010? Though a new Mashable article says 15 million.) the equipment will become better as technological advances become cheaper as more devices are mass produced. Rumor has it that Steve Jobs has ordered 65 million iPads for 2011. So within a year or two there will be more than 100 million people using iPads. What will they be reading? Will it be one of your books? Now, more than ever, I believe it's essential for writers to embrace the time and produce content for the web. No matter if it is with blogs, audio books or Kindle and digital versions of their novels or story collections, readers are clamoring for content and they're reading it during prime time hours.


I'm curious to see what the future will bring, but I suspect that we're seeing the way being paved before our eyes. Add up the numbers, project out for the next few years and--there's your audience. Will your work be available for them to read?

---

Ron Vitale was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Influenced by the likes of Tolkien, Asimov, and the British sci-fi television series "Doctor Who," he began writing at an early age, creating short fiction from his early Dungeons & Dragons role-playing sessions.  He has grown to become an accomplished author of science fiction and fantasy.  His published books include the short story collecton "The Jovian Gate Chronicles" and "Dorothea's Song."  His website and full publishing credits can be found at RonVitale.com.

By Popular Request: Cookies.

Once upon a time, shortly before I started this blog, I pretended I was a healthy food blogger. This did not go anywhere, since I'm actually a really horrible cook. But I had a few old posts describing some of my mad methods, so I thought I would share them while I'm on vacation instead of having to write a bunch of filler posts.  Off topic? Yes. Delicious? Even more so!


I grew up in a home where cooking was dropping a ladle-full of Dinty Moore atop minute rice.  At some point I realized I wanted to eat Real Food, and proceeded to try to bake cookies, since the fact that cookies are not Real Food escaped me.

My first hundred attempts were disastrous.  I thought the big soup spoon in the drawer was a tablespoon and that its smaller counterpart was a teaspoon.  Seldom did I have the correct ingredients, and when I did, they weren't exactly fresh.

That was years ago.  These days, my cookies are still disastrous!  But I have better ingredients and I know what a tablespoon is for reals.  Too bad I never measure my ingredients.  Mwahahaha.

You'll need this kind of stuff:

• Eggs
• Some kind of fatty substance.  I used heaps of vegetable shortening because I don't have butter at the moment.
• Flour (whole wheat please, we're being healthy here, jeez)
• Brown sugar
• White sugar
• Baking soda
• Vanilla
• Salt
• Crancherries
• White chocolate chips
• Oatmeal
• A helpful baby*

* Optional.

You may notice I list crancherries in the ingredients.  These are my current favorite thing in the world, second only to sweet potatoes.  I didn't think sweet potato oatmeal cookies would be as easy to make.  (Although, now that you mention it, they do sound kind of good.)  Crancherries are obviously the result of the unholy union of cranberries and cherries.  A little tart, a little sour, a little sweet, all delicious.

I threw a couple nastily big spoonfuls of shortening in a bowl and creamed it together with a small amount of granulated sugar and a big amount of brown sugar.  What do I look like, a measurer?  I guess it was probably a cup of shortening, a half cup of granulated sugar, and a cup of brown sugar.  Ish.

Then I dropped in an egg or two.  The details are hazy now.  I probably added the vanilla here, too.

If I was an Actual Baker, I would mix my flour (a cup or two, who knows) in a separate bowl with the baking soda and pinch of salt.  But I'm not an Actual Baker, so instead I mixed the baking soda and salt in the creamed fat/sugar and then added the flour.  Whole wheat flour is great for oatmeal cookies, by the way, and it has more fiber than that white all-purpose stuff.  If you don't have whole wheat pastry flour, you could run the normal whole wheat kind through a food processor to make it finer and it's almost as good.

Mix in either instant or rolled oats (but not the sugary kind from the packets).  Lots of oats.  And then one big handful each of crancherries and white chocolate.  My rationale is that even if these cookies are awful, they'll still be tasty thanks to the crancherries and white chocolate.  Who can resist mutant hybrid fruit and pseudo-chocolate?  No one, that's who.




Ugh.  Cell phone pictures.  I shouldn't be allowed anywhere near smart phones.

Anyhoo, drop dollops of dough on a greased cookie sheet.  Or do what I do and use aluminum foil.  I am super lazy and would much rather throw out the foil than actually wash dishes.

Into the oven we go!  350F should do it.





Success!  These came out so beautifully, even a cell phone camera can't ruin them.  They're fluffy but lightly crisped.  My husband says they're great, but we don't trust him because he'll eat anything I make.  Except the Helpful Baby. He's not for eating.

Helpful Baby Fridays: Away on Vacation!

And we're off!

My family and I are going to France and Denmark for the next couple of weeks.  I've got posts queued up (including a couple awesome guest posts), so my blog will continue to be active in the meantime, but I'm going to be conspicuously absent from comments, Twitter, and email.  I'll try to get back to any communication attempts as soon as possible.  Sorry!

In the meantime, here's an old picture of almost all my helpful babies sharing a lovely nap!

I was playing Dwarf Fortress while I took this picture.  I was the only conscious thing in the house.

How is your Helpful Baby helping you this week?  Post a picture of your baby on your blog (whether s/he be an infant, fur baby, or helper of any other persuasion), share a fun story about them, and drop a link in the comments!

Coming Soon: The 19 Dragons

Goodreads page

There are nineteen provinces in the Land held aloft by nineteen pillars. Above the earth there is sky, and nobody knows what goes below except the Nineteen Dragons.

That is all you need to know, but that is not all there is to be known. 

The Device has been stolen and the godlike Dragons have been rendered mortal. Someone is murdering them one by one, and each death brings the world closer to its end. Unless the the Device is somehow restored to its deceased owner, the Dragons are doomed to destruction-- and the human world will go with them.

I am pleased to announce my steampunk novella, "The 19 Dragons," will be released on July 8th, 2011.  Watch for more news soon!

Writing.

Now here's something I don't talk about on the blog too much.  For all that everything I do orbits around writing, I spend very little time talking about The Craft itself.  After all, what's there to say that hasn't been said a million times over?  You can find limitless advice on writing everywhere you look.  Indie publishing in its current incarnation is relatively new, so the ground here is somewhat untread, and I have a lot more to say on that topic.

Yet here we are.  I'm writing.  Specifically, I'm working on All Hallows Moon, with a looming deadline and not enough time.  I won't get much done on it in the next three weeks-- I'm going on vacation and I'm going to be busy.  So I have to squeeze out as much as I can in the next two days, and then really push to finish it when I return.

Meanwhile, I'm also editing The 19 Dragons.  I've picked the release date (which I'm announcing very soon) so I need to finish it and get it to beta readers.  I won't be as promotion-heavy on this one as I am on Six Moon Summer and its kin, since T19D is a novella and a way to fill in the months between each book.  (But a very good way!)

I've got such a busy schedule that sometimes I forget my #1 job as a writer is to write.  So I'm going to turn off Twitter and do it.  There's books to finish, guys, and they won't write themselves.

Event Rescheduled: Online Book Reading

Whoa. I did not anticipate how busy I would be right before my trip.

I'm going to reschedule my online book reading and do it after I return from vacation so I have time to give it the attention it deserves.  While I recorded the reading, I haven't had any time to edit it, and it looks terrible.  My conscience won't let me put it on YouTube.

The online book reading and Q&A session will instead take place June 8th.  Sorry about that guys.

(As a side note, do you realize how much STUFF you have to pack for babies?  He only weighs 21 lbs, so how much crap can he really need for two and a half weeks?  The answer is a lot.  He needs all the crap.)

Marketing Ideas for Indies #1: 10 Tips for Querying Book Bloggers

I've frequently mentioned how wonderful book bloggers are on this blog.  Sometimes I hear it's impossible to get bloggers to feature your book (which is a myth), but since I started doing reviews of indie books myself, I can kind of see why this rumor might get around.  Authors aren't sure how to conduct themselves.

You can read a million articles on the right way to approach editors and agents, but what about the friendly book lovers of the world?

I've sent out fifty review copies of Six Moon Summer to book bloggers now and queried many more.  Here's a few suggestions on how to handle the approach.

1. Be polite and professional.
Your query email asking if they would like to review your book should be as cleanly-written as your book itself.  (You did edit your book, right?) Don't be needy, cajoling, rude, pretentious... whatever.  Be professional.  They are essentially providing a service to authors and readers for free, and they don't owe you anything.

2. But be friendly.
Book bloggers are human too.  Because we have something huge in common (loving books), they're pretty easy to get along with.  Reading is usually a passion for these folks, so they want to have fun with it, too, and usually don't want to treat it as a business (except the really big ones).

3. Don't be demanding.
I've heard book bloggers complain about how much extra work indie authors are than publicists.  All you should ask of a book blogger is to read your book, and hopefully review it.  That's it.  You can offer to do additional promotions (like author interviews, character interviews, guest posts, giveaways, etcetera), but try not to be a pain in the butt.

4. Be brief.
I keep my emails asking if they would like to review my book to about one paragraph. I explain that I'm the author of Six Moon Summer, describe the genre, link them to the official website where they can find the blurb and trailer, and explain that I am interested in doing related promotions if they have the time.  Short and sweet.  Book bloggers are usually very busy and don't have time to read pages and pages of how you're going to be the next JK Rowling.

5. READ THEIR REVIEW POLICY.
I'm going to repeat this a few times.  Almost every book blogger has a review policy.  FIND IT. READ IT.  If they don't review your genre, don't ask-- you're wasting their time.  If they say they don't review indie books, leave it alone. If they say they're not doing reviews right now, leave it alone.  This is how they communicate their tastes to authors and publicists of the world, and they don't put it up there for funsies.  They do it to reduce unnecessary communications.  Respect it, yo.

6. Offer to do some kind of promotion if they're too busy for your book.
There are alternatives to the book blogger reading and reviewing your book.  If they're busy, offer to do all the work yourself.  Guest blogs take virtually no effort on their part and still get your name and cover around the internet.

7. READ THEIR REVIEW POLICY.
I said I was going to repeat this, didn't I?


8. If they aren't interested, leave them alone.
Don't push.  No means no.  Indie authors learn to be salespeople, which is an obnoxious but necessary personality trait, but you are not going to "sell" your book to a blogger with pushiness.  You'll just get a reputation for being annoying.  I've run into a couple authors who keep emailing until you change your mind (which I don't do), so I can only imagine it's worse for people who do more reviews.

9. If/when they do review your book, thank them for their time.
Don't argue.  (Are you listening, Jacqueline Howett?)  I've had a couple bloggers offer not to post reviews if they're unfavorable, and I always politely decline.  If they've taken the time to read the book, it's rude to refuse their review, and one or two bad reviews doesn't hurt.  They're inevitable, in fact.  So get a tough skin and be grateful.

10. Be patient.
Even though over fifty bloggers have review copies now (damn that's a lot), I've only gotten about a dozen back.  That's okay.  It takes time. Like all book lovers, they usually have huge reading lists, and many of them also have major publishers throwing books at them, too.  Indie books are often not high priority.  They're doing the best they can!  Also, if you hope to get a review in time for your book's release, give them at least two months of warning.

Bonus tip!  Keep a database of which book bloggers have worked with you. This (usually) prevents accidentally sending them duplicate emails, and it lets you get back to them fast if you have other books or promotional opportunities to offer.  I also note if they're not interested in participating in promotional stuff so I won't bug them about it twice.

Extra super bonus tip!  Don't send a form email to a million bloggers at once with all their names in the TO: line.  It's just rude.  Don't do that to anyone.  (Even if you have the cutest cat picture ever and you're sure your family wants to see it.)

What say you, book blogging friends? Any corrections? Additions? What can indie authors do to make your experience as book bloggers more pleasant?

Online book reading, and another Goodreads giveaway

Happy Monday!

If you're my friend on Goodreads, you've probably already received an invitation to this event.  If not, you should check out my upcoming online book reading!  It's tomorrow at 6 pm PST.  I'm posting a video of me reading the first chapter of Six Moon Summer, and then I'll be doing a Q&A in the comments.

If you leave a comment on my video, you'll be entered to win a free ebook copy of Six Moon Summer!  I'll announce the winner on the evening of May 10th.  You can get the book in virtually any format, so I can accommodate any e-reading device!

There was huge demand for Six Moon Summer in the last Goodreads giveaway, and I'm worried that not everyone got a fair chance to win.  So I'm doing it one more time!  This is running while I'm away on vacation, and I'll send the book to the lucky recipient as soon as I get back.  :)  You have until June 1st to enter!  (Unfortunately, this one's only open to residents of the US.  Sorry, international friends!)

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Six Moon Summer
by S.M. Reine

Giveaway ends June 01, 2011.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Saturday Round-Up

Writing Under Pressure>> Lessons from an Old Panasonic: Read Out Loud  I'm a huge proponent of reading your own work aloud to find errors.  It's absolutely the best editing method ever.  And it's a cool way to share your book with your husband/child/cats/anyone who will sit still long enough, too!

Galleycat>> 10 Nontraditional Ways To Promote Your Book  I've actually already done most of these.  Heh.  :)

Daily Writing Tips>> Affect is (Usually) a Verb  I mess this one up all the time.  *bookmarked*

Triumphal Writing>> Writing a Synopsis? The Information You Need Before You Begin  Great information from a professional editor.  Even indies need good synopses of their books!

TN Tobias>> 10 Ways to Create a Plot Twist  A great breakdown of story mechanisms that will create good plot twists.

Seven things about me

Dearest friend of the blog Carissa Elg has bestowed upon me a Stylish Blogger Award because she's awesome kickass.  Thanks so much Carissa!  I can never resist the urge to talk about myself, so I am pleased to accept!  Here's how it works:


1. Thank and link the person who nominated you (which I already did).

2. Share seven random facts about yourself.

3. Pass the award on to five new-found blogging buddies.

4. Contact the winners to congratulate them.

 So here we go!

1. I am a huge Michael Jackson fan, particularly when it comes to his "Dangerous" era work.  I know, I know, I've heard all the rumors too-- but I was totally crushed when I heard he died.  And in his defense, the FBI released the files related to his investigation, and they showed that they found no evidence whatsoever of wrongdoing on his part.  Although it's pretty obvious he was a disturbed man, he was also innocent.  Thriller stands as one of the best music videos of all time, and nobody could convince me otherwise!

And look at how beautiful that album cover is.  Gah.

2. I was the biggest, stinkest dork in middle school.  I was completely clueless as to the function of showering and deodorant and I thought I would be liek super duper sexy if I wore clunky boots and a water bra (such shame) with my ill-fitting jeans.  My stinkiness wore off sometime in high school (mostly) and my dorkiness has since gone into hiding, but it's still lurking under the surface.  Watching.  Waiting.

3. I have been to three countries in my life: the United States, Japan, and Mexico.  I will soon be adding France, Denmark, and Belgium to the list.

4. The very first book I ever wrote to completion was called "The Journey to Utopia," and I was in sixth grade (approaching the peak of my stinky dorkiness).  It was 105,000 words long, and a huge ripoff of The Wheel of Time and Sailor Moon.  No, that's not as interesting as you would think.  ;)  As soon as I finished it, I proudly printed it off, stuck it in an envelope with an SASE, and mailed it to Penguin Putnam.  Unsurprisingly, I received my very first form rejection about a week later informing me that they don't take unsolicited manuscripts.  I'm sure Penguin Putnam is regretting that decision to this day.  (Yes, I'm joking.)

5. Furthering my dorkiness, I went on to write a book report about "The Journey to Utopia," which my English teacher just barely tolerated.  Conceited?  Nah.  ;)

6. I am the biggest fan of David Copperfield.  Ever.  Ever.  *crazy feral eyes*

DO YOU SEE HIS AMAZING 80s HAIR.  DO YOU SEE IT.  And those intense eyes!  And the wind!  And his bushy eyebrows!

I swoon watching his tricks.  I know exactly how they're done, but nobody matches his style!  He's the master!  He's got the amazing music and the hot babes and the great choreography!

I've seen him perform twice: once as a kid during his crazy hair era, and once very recently.  His show is very sad now.  No more hot babes, the cool music is mostly gone, and he's going through the motions.  I think poor David is sick of the routines he's been performing now for 20+ years.  Can you blame the guy?  But I still love him.  (I would post videos of his tricks all day if I could get away with it.)

7. I sat on Bruce Campbell's lap once... when I was a little girl.  No joke.  That was when Brisco County Jr. was on TV, and he came to town on some kind of promotional tour.  So he was signing autographs dressed as Brisco.  I had/have a HUGE crush on him and couldn't believe he would let me (me! of all children!) sit on his lap.  I blushed for days.  I might still be blushing.

Yep, I'm the one with the bowl cut.

You can't tell in that picture, but that is a little girl's EVERY SINGLE FANTASY coming true all in one moment (except the one where I become a mermaid and vanish into the land of the unicorns, but this is almost as good).

Oh Bruce.  Call me.

So!  Now it's time for me to pass on the blog award.

1. Thomas Amo, author of An Apple for Zoe and pure concentrated awesome
2. Morgan McCoy, who will not participate in this because she hates fun (and memes)
3. Angeline Kace, whose book I can't wait to read
4. Amber at Me, My Shelf, and I, who I missed while she was on vacay
5. Missy at Two Readers Reviews, because she's won both of my giveaways! ;)

Now I'm going to go watch more David Copperfield tricks, and nobody can stop me!

Amazon gift card giveaway!

107 followers!  Holy crumbs!

When I decided to do a giveaway to show my thanks to my awesome blog followers, I was hoping I'd hit 75 (from a start of 69).  Instead, I've gotten over a hundred!  This means you cruel, cruel people are forcing me to give out two $10 gift cards to Amazon.com, which can be used on any of their wide catalog of items!  (Although I highly recommend books.)

With the help of my lovely assistant, Random.org, I have drawn for these two followers, who are... (drumroll please)

Carissa Elg

and

Missy @ Two Readers Reviews

Congratulations, ladies!

To collect your prize, please send me a message at smreine (at) gmail [dot] com using the email address where you prefer to get the gift card.

(By the way, I'm completely shocked that Missy won one of the gift cards, because she won the last giveaway on my blog too!  Random.org, are you sure you're random?  Or do you have the hots for Missy?  I'm watching you, Random.)

Helpful Baby Fridays

I'd like to take this week to go sentimental and retro, all the way back when the Helpful Baby was born in October.  He was a real pumpkin baby-- completely orange with jaundice.  They didn't catch it at the hospital and it became pretty severe by his three day checkup, so he was readmitted and stuck in an isolette.  (Most people pooh-pooh jaundice as a panic-worthy thing, but severe jaundice can lead to brain damage. Okay? Tell that to new parents with a pumpkin baby and see how they react!)

This is an EXTREMELY TRAUMATIC THING for a brand new mom coming down off pregnancy hormones to experience.  I was in charge of this brand new life and struggling to figure out what to do with him, only to have him stuck full of needles and put in a plastic cage where I couldn't cuddle him!  I cried the whole time until they finally let him out (see the picture above of daddy cuddling him and the IV pole), and I pretty much haven't let him go since.

Fortunately, he got over that whole jaundice thing and is a happy, healthy baby, for which I'm immensely grateful.

This week, I went on to prove that I'm a HORRIBLE TERRIBLE WORST MOM EVER by taking Helpful Baby for a hike (so fun! so stimulating! so interesting!) only to get his little face SUNBURNED.  Argh!  I hate myself.  Poor little chublet.  Why? Whyyyy?  Now he's a tomato baby instead of a pumpkin baby!  *pulls out hair*

Okay, deep breaths.  He's okay.  Really.  It wasn't much of a sunburn, but I still feel terrible about it.

He helpfully slept great all week and started rolling around in the middle of the night in bed, which is giving me paroxysms of terror as well as a neck cramp.  Tiny babies are such big bed hogs!  I'm not looking forward to him learning to crawl.  I know I'm going to wake up one of these nights and see him marching for the edge of the bed.  (At which point the mattress is going on the floor.)

How is your Helpful Baby helping you this week?  Post a picture of your baby on your blog (whether s/he be an infant, fur baby, or helper of any other persuasion), share a fun story about them, and drop a link in the comments!

Awesome Deal: Get Six Moon Summer in paperback-- cheap!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

I realize some people don't use e-readers yet and prefer the sensual, tactile experience of turning pages and smelling the glue in the spines (or is that just me?).  Fortunately, Six Moon Summer is available in paperback!  And what a beautiful paperback it is, too.  Helpful Baby sure loves it!

He says it's really delicious and you should all get a copy to eat.  Uh, I mean, read.

If you don't want to hear boring stuff about distribution channels, skip to the bolded part below.  ;)

The cost of manufacturing Six Moon Summer is low, since it's only around 200 pages and I paid CreateSpace for their pro plan, which opens up more distribution channels and outsources their printing to a less expensive company.  I can get my copies for about $3.20, plus shipping.  However, in order to take advantage of extended distribution channels -- which include libraries, one of my eventual target markets -- I had to jack the price up to about $8.99.

I'm disappointed that I had to price it so high, and I may not elect for extended distribution in the future for this reason.  The paperbacks are beautiful, but who's going to buy an indie book for almost $9?  I don't plan on getting rich from this.  I just want people to enjoy my writing!

So...

You can buy a cheaper, printed copy of Six Moon Summer through CreateSpace by using this discount code at checkout: SG3YTJG4.  You will save $3 and get the book for $5.99 instead of $8.99.


If you buy your book at full price through Amazon, you can get it much faster and I'll get higher royalties, but if you're okay with waiting a little while, go through CreateSpace.  And use this coupon code!  I want you all to enjoy the book (even those without e-readers).