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Ellen’s Year In Books

Ellen’s 2025 Year in Books

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Ellen L. Ekstrom

Goodreads Author

Born

in Vallejo, California, The United States

Website

https://www.whyteroseandviolet.net/

Genre

Literature & Fiction, Chick Lit, Historical Fiction

Influences

Thomas Hardy, Sigrid Undset, the Brontes ...more

Member Since

August 2009

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/grammatica1066

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Ellen L. Ekstrom writes within the genres of literary fiction, romance, fantasy, and historical fiction.

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You mentioned that you use KDP Select and CreateSpace exclusively. What marketing benefits do get from Select, and would you characterize them as good, bad, worth the limited channels?

Ellen L. Ekstrom Good morning, Matt.

The marketing I receive from Select is minimal, but it's all I have time for. Select allows giveaways, 'count-down deals' where yo…moreGood morning, Matt.

The marketing I receive from Select is minimal, but it's all I have time for. Select allows giveaways, 'count-down deals' where you lower the price in increments, and just the exposure of being available at Amazon. If you're enrolled in Select you still receive a royalty when someone borrows the book or downloads it through Kindle Unlimited for free. With the 'pages read' rule being in place, I don't know what that will do to my royalties.

Good, bad or worth it? It's good in that it's available if you don't mind the limited channels - I was at a networking party for my secular job last Thursday and the consistent response to being introduced as a published author was "Can I get your books at Amazon?" No one mentioned Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Sony, Powell's. Bad in that it is only one vendor and if you want to have your book available everywhere. Not so bad if everyone is shopping at Amazon.

It's worth it for me. I like the convenience of Createspace for trade paperbacks. My traditional publisher wouldn't publish in paper because the sales aren't as good in paper and bookstores won't carry a lot of indie authors because they can't return the remainders. I've stopped fretting over that. I purchase my own ISBN numbers - $10.00 each - so that my imprint can be listed in the Books In Print registry. The templates offered for the book interior are idiot-proof.

The only bad: Amazon is a huge corporate gorilla. But then, so are Doubleday, Random House, Harper Collins, and authors have no control over their work or marketing - in fact, you don't get marketing from big publishers. You have to do it yourself. So, I figured, if I have to do it all myself, I might as well have a big name behind me. I've bent my politics a little. Amazon has been very helpful, professional and friendly. I get treated as a professional and with respect. Perhaps that's because I approach them that way and treat Amazon the same way.

Despite the increase in quality of self-published books, particularly the writing and finished product, there are many people who are snobs about it and won't read indie authors because there are still a few authors who do not take time to edit, produce a professional product, and have public temper tantrums when they get three-star reviews (3 stars are good. Trust me.) There is a lack of professionalism that shows through their work. And then there are those who write series without bothering to see if the first book is selling. The field is now saturated by people writing series - quick reads of 100 pages or less - and the reading audience is getting weary of that.(less)

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What books are on your summer reading list this year?

Ellen L. Ekstrom World Without End, Some Touch of Pity and Fortune's Wheel.…moreWorld Without End, Some Touch of Pity and Fortune's Wheel.(less)

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Ellen L. Ekstrom’s books

Average rating: 4.3 · 129 ratings · 73 reviews · 11 distinct works • Similar authors

	Tallis' Third Tune (Midwinter Sonata, #1) 4.41 avg rating — 32 ratings — published 2011 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Armor of Light 4.04 avg rating — 26 ratings — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Ascalon 4.30 avg rating — 23 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Shop Girl of Flowergate 4.41 avg rating — 22 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Scarborough: Quinn's Story (Midwinter Sonata, #2) 4.56 avg rating — 9 ratings — published 2012 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	What She Wished for...a Cautionary Tale 4.57 avg rating — 7 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Legacy 4.14 avg rating — 7 ratings — published 2004 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	St. Edmund Wood: A Cheshire Tale 3.50 avg rating — 4 ratings — published 2013 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	George of Grasmere: Part One - The Oath 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Legacy: Twentieth Anniversary Edition 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Ellen L. Ekstrom's Blog

The Story Continues

This is Quinn's side of the story that began in "Tallis' Third Tune," "Scarborough." Beginning on January 6, 2020, and through January 10, 2020, WRV is offering "Scarborough: Quinn's Story" as a free ebook download at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Scarborough-Qu... Read more of this blog post »

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Published on January 05, 2020 14:51

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Series by Ellen L. Ekstrom

Midwinter Sonata (2 books)
by

Ellen L. Ekstrom (Goodreads Author)

4.44 avg rating — 41 ratings

Ellen is Currently Reading

Ellen Ekstrom is currently reading

God's Problem: How the Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Question - Why We Suffer

by Bart D. Ehrman

bookshelves: currently-reading

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Jun 11, 2025 09:13AM

Ellen Ekstrom is currently reading

The New Oxford Annotated Bible: New Revised Standard Version

by Anonymous

bookshelves: currently-reading

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Jun 13, 2018 03:47PM

Ellen Ekstrom is currently reading

The Harper Collins Study Bible

by Wayne A. Meeks

bookshelves: currently-reading

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Jun 13, 2018 03:48PM

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Ellen’s Recent Updates

Ellen Ekstrom is currently reading God's Problem: How the Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Question - Why We Suffer by Bart D. Ehrman	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jun 11, 2025 09:13AM · like
Ellen Ekstrom wants to read Killjoy (Inspector Ramsay #4) by Ann Cleeves (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jun 11, 2025 09:13AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Killjoy by Ann Cleeves. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Killjoy by Ann Cleeves <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Ellen Ekstrom has read Holbein Portrait Drawings (Dover Fine Art, History of Art) by Hans Holbein	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
One of the best resources for historical dress.
Jun 11, 2025 09:12AM · 1 like · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Holbein Portrait Drawings by Hans Holbein. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Holbein Portrait Drawings by Hans Holbein <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Ellen Ekstrom made a comment on Chalin’s review of Armor of Light " Hi, Chalin: I believe you posted this on the wrong book. This is my novel, "Armor of Light," which was written several years ago, as opposed to Mr. Fo ...more "
Mar 05, 2025 06:41PM · see review

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Ellen’s Quotes

“No one says a novel has to be one thing. It can be anything it wants to be, a vaudeville show, the six o’clock news, the mumblings of wild men saddled by demons.”
― Ishmael Reed, Yellow Back Radio Broke-Down

tags: literature, novels, writers, writing

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