Authors Society discussion

WELCOME WELCOME!
I'm so glad you all honored my group by joining!

I look forward to viewing your profiles.
I hope you will feel free to shamelessly plug your book, or if you're a reader, place your favorite books in our bookshelf!

Warmest regards,

Erin Collins

Hi-

My name is Trish Silver. Please go to my Web site: www.trishsilver.com and read all about my new novel titled, "When I Remember Love."

Thank you,
Trish Silver

Welcome, Trish. I must say, yours is one of the most succinct websites I've seen in quite a while.

"When I Remember Love" sounds like a winner, and I wish you the best with it.

Best Regards,

Dorien

Hello! My name is Cheryl Snell, and I'm the author of five published collections of poetry and two novels (under contract). My new book of poetry, fully illustrated by my sister Janet,has just come out. It's called PRISONER'S DILEMMA, and you can see a preview at http://lopsidepress.com/win/

For updates and giveaways, check out my blogs:
http://snellsisters.blogspot.com
http://shivasarms.blogspot.com

Best,
Cheryl

An open invitation to authors to plug their books? My, my, Trish, you are a brave soul. You realize you run the risk of being trampled in the stampede.

For those of you who don't know me (probably most of you), I'm the author of the 12-book Dorien Grey Mysteries, the new Elliott Smith paranormal mystery series, and the stand-along western/romance/adventure novel, "Calico".

I am shameless in buttonholing potential readers and urging them to check out my books at my website http://www.doriengrey.com. They can read the first chapter of every book there, and they can also sign up for a drawing for a free book. I'd be delighted if whomever reads this would do so.

And thank you, Trish, for the opportunity to bang my own drum. I'm hitching up the horses for my bandwagon at this very moment. I hope you might climb on board.

Best,

Dorien

Dorien wrote: "An open invitation to authors to plug their books? My, my, Trish, you are a brave soul. You realize you run the risk of being trampled in the stampede.

For those of you who don't know me (probab..."

Hi Dorien-

I am a new published author. If I'm trampled, then I deserve it. Please go to my Web site and read about me and my new novel www.trishsilver.com

You have a great sense of humor and I'm just trying to hold on!! I don't understand any of this.

My best,
Trish

A friend of mine often says "I have to take you everywhere twice...the second time to apologize." Case in point is my having confused Trish and Erin, who issued the offer for shameless promotion.

I did go to Trish's site and commented on it earlier.

Hey, I can't be devastatingly handsome and smart at the same time. Sorry for any confusion all this may have caused.

Dorien

Hi Dorien-

Handsome and creative. That's a great combination!
I'm hiring a publicist who's highly recommended. I think that i have a lot to learn.

Trish

We all have a lot to learn, Trish, but I might suggest you go slowly in hiring a publicist. Most of what a publicist does, you can do yourself, and for free. Some are of course very good, but many are...well, as I said, you can do it yourself for free. Unless of course, you're independently wealthy, in which case, the sky's the limit. Good luck.

Dorien

Most of what a publicist does, you may be able to do yourself - most - but that doesn't mean you should. Even without the little bit that the publicist can do that you can't, scaring up publicity takes time away from writing, the publicist is undoubtedly better at it, the publicist - assuming he or she is a halfway decent one - has the connections we authors lack, and it looks so much better to be hawked by someone else than to be pounding our own drums. The recipients of publicity materials look at them to see whether they were written by the author or by a third party, and yes, it makes a difference. Hiring an independent publicist is costly, but from where I'm standing, well worth it. My 0.02.

Jennie:

Absolutely no argument with anything you say, but the bottom line is, regrettably, the bottom line for many of us. If I could afford a publicist...a good one, as you say, though how one really knows in advance is another issue...I might well consider it. Unfortunately, I tend to fritter away my money on frivolous things like rent and food.

Still, your points are very well taken.

Dorien

Erin wrote: "WELCOME WELCOME!
I'm so glad you all honored my group by joining!

Many thanks, Erin. I have just joined, after the site was recommended, and I'm still not entirely sure how it works. Anyway, to "shamelessly promote my book." It is Sardinian Silver, and the shortest blurb for it reads "A Young Englishman in Sardinia experiences the frustrations of life in a relatively uncivilized society. His attempts to find a girl friend end in disappointment." Please check out my websites: www.sardiniansilver.com and www.acolinwright.ca, although better wait for a few days since I'm upgrading them (adding a podcast of me reading the first chapter) and I have to wait for my computer-literate son to sort out the mess I made!

I was also particularly interested in the writer vs. story-teller discussion. I know I write very well, but I have enormous difficulty with plots (although not for this novel, where events provided the plot), both for fiction and for plays, which I also write. My consolation is that even Shakespeare took many of his plots from others.

However, that's enough for the moment.

A. Colin Wright

"A" (?)

May I make an unsolicited and strictly personal observation? I strongly suggest you change your blurb for Sardinian Silver: the blurb tells the whole story, whereas it should pique interest. There's little incentive to read a story one thinks one's just been told in one sentence.

I wish you luck!

Dorien

Dorien wrote: ""A" (?)

May I make an unsolicited and strictly personal observation? I strongly suggest you change your blurb for Sardinian Silver: the blurb tells the whole story, whereas it should pique inter..."

Thanks. I agree, but unfortunately I did this at a time when I was in a rush, and it's difficult to change now. Also, somehow I got signed in originally as "A", which I've now managed to change to A. Colin.

A big hello from sunny Australia,

Stuart Ross McCallum is my name, author of: Beyond my Control-One Man's Struggle with Epilepsy, Seizure Surgery & Beyond.First and foremost my true story is about a life, with and without the sinister condition,epilepsy. Furthermore, how epilepsy affects everyone in my inner circle. The story is indeed harrowing (at times) however, I manage to infuse humor throughout.Please visit my website, I would love to hear any comments you may like to make.

Thank you, Stuart http://www.beyondmycontrol.net

Hello from another sunny place, Florida.

My name is Penelope A. Riley, author of Travel Absurdities. It was newly released in January. As the title suggests, it contains many short stories about my travels, mishaps, culture shock and travel oddities. It is non-fiction. I am the first to laugh at some of the adventures I have had. I am an artist/illustrator also and a travel agent. You can read some excerpts from my book at www.travelabsurdities.com

Penelope

Hey Penelope,

Firstly, I love the title of your book -- terrific choice. I am going to check out your site.

Cheers, Stuart

Sounds great, Penelope! Best of luck with sales. I'm sure it will do great.

Julia
www.juliaamante.com

Hello everyone. My name is F.D. Crandall and I'm the author of "The Measure of a Man." It's the story of a clandestine service operator and his journey to recover his old friend who is now an arms dealer for Al Qaida.

This is my first fiction novel and I am hooked on this genre now.

I think all of us are prodigious readers.

I can't list all the books I've read. My name is susie hawes( sorry, hate the shift key with a passion) and I've authored about 6 e books published by ren e books/page turner. just recently pulled them and placed them with daverana.com, a new company run by author janrae frank. should be fun to see what she does with them.

i love urban fantasy, psychological and supernatural horror and dark fantasy. current favs are john connolly and niel gaiman.

my books are dark fantasy, comedic fantasy and supernatural horror

Hello, I'm Don Inman author of Disappearance. It's a story about a family's strange and mysterious disappearance. And a father's race against time to try and save them. But Mike Banner encounters obstacles and dangers of overwelming odds, and he must fight them and find a way to survive.

You can read an excerpt by going to www.authorhouse.com and at www.amazon.com

Another Authorhpuse writer. Welcome to the club. Tell me, were you satisfied with the package at Authorhouse? Because I have some issues with them.

Quite satisfied. Please explain what you mean by Authorhpuse.

prolly Authorhouse.

I had my book published by iUniverse, which is a subsidiary of Author House. By and large they did a good job, but they had problems partly because of a move from Lincoln Nebraska to Bloomington Illinois. I found I had to keep on at them to get things done efficiently--and you should certainly do so--but the end result was good. Mind you, it is still publishing-on-demand, which still has a bad reputation. But after trying traditional publishers for years, I'm still pleased to get my book out, well-produced and designed. You will have, though, to do a lot of publicity for it yourself (which is the case, now, even with traditional publishers). Publishing is changing so much, and to my mind POD makes sense--but it's still in its infancy and trying to overcome the old stigma of the "vanity press." I think iUniverse and Author House have probably been victims of their own success: with an enormous amount of work, and a multitude of different programs that are really very confusing.

Don wrote: "Quite satisfied. Please explain what you mean by Authorhpuse. "

ooops. I meant Authorhouse. (Trying to type faster than I can think) Any way, I was not happy with the way they forgot to tell me about the heavy loaded back end of the deal. The promotional and sales packages were never discussed at the front, so I made the mistake of assuming they were all inclusive. Then come to find out that they were terribly expensive and now I'm unable to afford to promote my book as it should be.

A Colin wrote: "I had my book published by iUniverse, which is a subsidiary of Author House. By and large they did a good job, but they had problems partly because of a move from Lincoln Nebraska to Bloomington Il..."

I'm not unhappy about the end result as far as the book itself. Actually, I'm VERY happy about the product they produced. I'm not happy about the deal itself. I can't get into any bookstore. I can't even have a book signing in a Barnes & Noble because of the POD, which I feel I should have been told of BEFORE I made the deal.

Anyway. Sorry for the bitching. I'm happy with the book, just not the deal that brought the book to fruition.

F.D. wrote: "Don wrote: "Quite satisfied. Please explain what you mean by Authorhpuse. "

ooops. I meant Authorhouse. (Trying to type faster than I can think) Any way, I was not happy with the way they for..."

F.D., just asking. Did you fully read through the package you chose?, and the services that they offered. Because the packages they offer shows exactly what is included in each. And they have quite a few services they offer that you have to pay for that's not included in each package. Well as for me right now the promotional services are not in my budget. So I find other was to promoto my book that are budget minded and cost effective. But I was and still is happy with the outcome of my book with Authorhouse and there services.

Don wrote: "F.D. wrote: "Don wrote: "Quite satisfied. Please explain what you mean by Authorhpuse. "

ooops. I meant Authorhouse. (Trying to type faster than I can think) Any way, I was not happy with the..."

It's all good. The original person who signed me up made it sound as if the marketing was included. It just gave me a valuable lesson on having all of the elements checked before I leap.

Hello from yet another sunny and quite humid place, Louisiana,

My name is Aly B., and I am only a minor, but I am quite interested in writing. I am about to finish up middle school. I may not be a writer in my career, but writing is my form of escaping. I have only posted two stories. One of them, "Truth Revealed", is quite old (I wrote it a few years ago) and I just recently posted it. It isn't very good though. My other story, "...And Then I Died", was a class project that I turned in today. I did not need to revise anything when my teacher edited it for me, so it is just as I turned in for my final. Feel free to leave comments on how I could improve, considering that I am just starting out and do not know all of the particulars about writing yet.

With thanks and appreciation,
Aly B.

Hello everyone
I'm Cliff Ball, I'm the author of a science fiction novel Don't Mess With Earth and a time travel novella, Out of Time. I've written short stories in other genres and if you'd like, please check out my website: Cliff's Official Author Site.

Thanks!

Hello,

I'm Laura, I'm just starting out buzzing my book 'Dusty Waters: A Ghost Story'! I'm muddling along as a self-published writer along with my husband, Fred, with our own company Field Stone Press. Please feel free to stop by at my blog Upstate Girl (http://upstategirl-laurajwryan.blogsp...) to see what I'm about, I'm also an artist and photographer, so there's usually pretty pictures to look at of my flower garden, a kitty or two (or five), and my faithful dog, Max. My book is on Amazon with the 'Look Inside' feature available for a browse n' quick read...and I'm set up here at Good Reads with a giveaway of my little ghost story...I'm hoping to start up a discussion group soon...stay tuned!

Hi Everyone!
I'm Martina Reisz Newberry. I write poetry. Please don't groan--I do good work. ;-)

My books are: RUNNING LIKE A WOMAN WITH HER HAIR ON FIRE, NOT UNTRUE AND NOT UNKIND, HUNGER, AFTER THE EARTHQUAKE, PERHAPS YOU COULD BREATHE FOR ME. All are available on amazon.com Hope there's a few poetry readers out there. My website: http://www.martina.rollwiththechanges...

I'll dig into the fiction I see some of you have written.

Hello, all.

My name is Lisa Lipkind Leibow and my debut novel, Double Out and Back will be released on August 13 from Red Rose Publishing. If you wish to learn more about me and my writing, feel free to visit my website at http://www.LLLeibow.com

Double Out and Back is in the Goodreads database, too. If you are interested in reading it when it comes out, feel free to add it to your "to read" list.

Cheers!
Lisa Lipkind Leibow

Hi all -

My debut novel, FOR BETTER, FOR MURDER, was released this month by Midnight Ink Books. The first book in the Broken Vows mystery series, FBFM is a light-hearted, fast-paced, humorous tale about Finger Lakes sports car dealer Jolene Asdale, who opens the passenger door of her showroom Ferrari only to have a dead man tumble out. Things only get worse when Jolene's almost-ex-husband is assigned to the investigation and her unpredictable sister disappears from the psych center that same day in the company of new "friend". FBFM is part mystery, part romantic suspense, part family saga, and totally entertaining fun. For more information and to read the reviews, please check out www.LisaBork.com.

Thanks!
Lisa

I joined the group several days ago. About myself: I grew up in Eastern Europe (born in Transylvania), English is my third language, and I write short stories, essays and book reviews. I have a book of short stories partly inspired by my life in the "old world" that should come out in early Oct. More about the book here:
http://www.altaifland.com/stories.html

Alta

Hi there. New Author, Eve Brown-Waite joining the group. My memoir, FIRST COMES LOVE, THEN COMES MALARIA was published in April and I'm learning firsthand all about the highs and lows of life as a published author. You can learn more about me and my book at www.evebrownwaite.com and also read the first chapter of my book there. The book has been described as "Out of Africa" if Erma Bombeck wrote it. I'm hard at work on the next book. Or at least pretending to be ...

Erin wrote: "WELCOME WELCOME!
I'm so glad you all honored my group by joining!

I look forward to viewing your profiles.
I hope you will feel free to shamelessly plug your book, or if you're a reader, plac..."

Hi I am finally writing again and I am looking to nest with other writers and readers to help me hatch my current writing in progress. I have a reader for this work, a grounds keeper at a local museum. I feel that now is the time for me to write this.

A Wrinkle in Time is kind of my talisman for the work I am doing and I hope it is 100th as comforting and thrilling as The wrinkle in Time was for me...

Thank you for having this group here for me to nest in... I am fluffing my feathers and preparing to roost at this very moment... ahh

Good luck, Crin! Your project sounds interesting and entertaining.

Best,
Lisa Lipkind Leibow
http://www.DoubleOutAndBack.com

Hello from not-so-sunny Minnesota
I'm Sandra Humphrey and I invite you to check out my seven children's/YA books on my website www.kidscandoit.com. I'm currently giving away five copies of Keepin' It Real: A Young Teen Talks With God and five copies of Me, Myself, and I: Youth Meditations for Grades Five through Eight. I'm looking forward to being a member of this group!
Sandy

Lisa wrote: "Good luck, Crin! Your project sounds interesting and entertaining.

Best,
Lisa Lipkind Leibow
http://www.DoubleOutAndBack.com"
Thanks, I'm working out a writing schedule so that I have longer hours for writing. It is tough getting folks to respect my writing time. Family was used to having more of my time now I am cutting back and it is not going over well. They are getting less dependent on me as time passes so I think this too will get better.

Hi, Sandra! Welcome.
And, Crin, I can relate to what you're saying. It's a challenge to keep all of the balls in the air. I have two days a week that I refuse to book other appointments and obligations -- Those are my writing days. However, now that book promotion has to fit into the mix along with writing, and 'real life', I'm spread thin, too.

Good luck with your juggling act. I'm working on mine!


Lisa Lipkind Leibow
http://www.DoubleOutAndBack.com

Hi everyone! I'm glad to see I'm not the only one writing in English as a second language!

I'm Wendy Gillissen, I'm from the Netherlands and I am a psychologist working with dreams and past life therapy as a day job;) In my spare time, I write and play the Celtic harp.

I knew I wanted to write since I was five, but I held back until 2005, which is when the floodgates opened!
My first novel, 'Curse of the Tahiéra', a spiritual fantasy adventure was published in May this year.
You can find more on the book on http://www.wendygillissen.com

I am still bewildered by the endless possibilities the (English speaking) internet offers to reach out to readers and authors. My Goodreads profile had been up for a wile but I hadn't even gotten around to really 'landing' here!
I'm looking forward to being a member of Goodreads and getting to know you better!
Have a lovely day, Wendy

Your novel looks great! I know your LibraryThing book giveaway just ended--are you also doing a Goodreads book giveaway?
Wishing you and your book the very best!
Sandy

Hi Sandra, thank you very much!:)
I will certainly look into it - the one on LibraryThing was my first official giveaway, but I was pleasantly surprised at the number of people that responded!
Wishing you and your books the best too,
Wendy

Thanks! I did book giveaways for both LibraryThing and Goodreads and I met some really interesting people, including three school librarians. Good Luck!
Sandy

Thanks Sandra, I think I will do one on Goodreads as well! :)
BTW Alternative-Read.com's Sassy Brit is hosting a giveaway/review for my book this month - if you like, you can find it here: http://tjbook-list.blogspot.com/2009/...
I like Alternative-Reads a lot, it's a great up and coming resource for book reviews, author interviews etc.!