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Author Archive

Get New Young Adult Premade Ebook Covers

08 Jan 2013 | By

Below are a few of the new young adult premade ebook covers added to my covers gallery. I’m always adding new premades as they sell. Even though they’re “premade” I don’t use template designs. Most of my premades are just ideas I get when seeing an image or a draft I didn’t use previously. Once the premade is sold I remove it, so I never sell premades to more than one person. Click HERE to see my full premade ebook cover gallery and for details on pricing info, etc. To view my custom designed covers visit my custom ebook covers gallery.

young adult premade ebook covers

young adult premade ebook covers

Category: Book Covers, Cover Art Comments off Tags: , ,

Social Media Marketing Tips for Authors

07 Jan 2013 | By

social media marketingSocial media marketing and networking can be extremely confusing and difficult when you’re first trying to figure it all out. At least it was for me when I first started. I’m no SEO guru. But I’m fortunate to have a friend who is and he’s given me some outstanding advice and tips over the years. He also doesn’t mind if I share those advices with everyone which just makes him all the more awesome.

One of the first things he taught me was to make myself easily accessible to people. Today’s generation and the up and coming generations are tech savvy readers. They understand Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, and tons of other sites I probably don’t even know exist being the technological dinosaur that I am. But if you want to be viable in the upcoming years, then you must be easily found.

This is something I notice authors have a hard time with. I do tons of book features each month and sometimes when I go to the author’s websites, finding where they are on Facebook, Twitter, etc is extremely difficult or non existent. Unless it’s a die hard fan they’re not going to take the time to track you down. So it’s important you make your follow options visible and easy to find.

Social Media Marketing Tips:

Automating the Process to Save time

It’s important you have a presence on every social network. I know most people don’t have the time to keep up with Facebook, Twitter, a blog, and all things in between. But if you want to reach the widest possible audience then you must, at the very least, figure out which one you can utilize to reach the largest audience possible and focus on those networks first.

Even if you don’t have a lot of time, there are tons of ways you can automate the process. By having your Facebook automatically tweet your status updates, you can post on Facebook and Twitter at the same time. Or by using something like RSS Graffiti you can update your blog, RSS Graffiti will automatically post it to Facebook, and if you have your Facebook connected to Twitter, it will automatically tweet for you. You’ll be able to knock out three social media networks in just one post.

Things like Hootsuite and TweetDeck allow you to schedule tweets. Meaning you can take fifteen minutes a week, write out your tweets for the week, schedule them, and forget about Twitter. Other than maybe a daily check in to see if anyone’s asked you anything. Also with Hootsuite, it allows you to view multiple accounts at once. And for authors with multiple pen names this would allow you to view all of your accounts in one go.

The above mentioned sites are just a few and ones I’ve personally used. You can do a Google search or ask around to see what your friends use. Find whatever works for you and then set it all up. Initially it may be a bit of work and time, but once you get it set up, it’ll run itself. Allowing you more time to work on writing.

After all, having more time to write is every writer’s goal.

 

 

 

image source

 

 

 

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How to Convert Your Ebook to Print with Ease

05 Jan 2013 | By

If you know you’re going to want your book in both print and ebook, there is a simple method which will allow you to convert your ebook quickly and efficiently. And it’s something you most likely know how to do but just didn’t realize how much easier it’d make your formatting, and that is paragraph styles. (see screenshot below for where to find paragraph styles)

how to convert your ebook

How to Convert Your Ebook to Print with Ease

Whenever I know I’m going to be doing both print and ebook formatting for a client, I’ll start with the ebook as it has less of the specialized formatting than a print version will. By starting with the ebook formatting first, it allows me to insert a lot of minor details like headings. Instead of highlighting your chapter headings, subheadings, etc, make sure to use your paragraph styles. By using paragraph styles as opposed to highlighting and just changing it, when you get ready to format for print, all you need to do is go into the paragraph style for your headings and change it to your print settings.

Then half your work is already done. The same applies by using the normal style for the body text. You can then easily adjust from an ebook font to a more complex print font and formatting. When you change the settings in the paragraph style, it will change all items in the document to that style. Which means you just need to go through and insert section breaks and do a bit of tidying up. You won’t have to format the entire book because 75% of it will be done for you already when you formatted for ebook.

I’m not going to go into details on how to format for ebook using MS Word. I’m kinda assuming you know that already. If you’re not using paragraph styles, then I’d highly recommend trying it the next time you format. Especially if you intend to have a print and ebook version of your book. You’ll be amazed at the amount of time you’ll save just by using something as simple as paragraph styles to set up your book.

Paragraph styles aren’t just for headings. You can use them on all of your specialized formatting including italics and bold. If it requires you to highlight it and make a change, I’d always suggest using a paragraph style for it. Especially if you’re going to have that particular format in more than one place.

This will also help you to convert your ebook more easily as well. When I format ebooks, I normally start  in Word, and lay out all of my paragraph styles. Then I convert to HTML. All I have to do is a bit of deletion and cleaning up the code slightly and I have a 100% formatted HTML document with half the work.

Do you use paragraph styles when you format? If not, what method do you prefer?

(screen shot taken from  The Entrepreneur’s Trap: How to Stop Working Too Much, Take Back Your Time and Enjoy Life
available at Amazon)

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Cover Reveal: Raksha by Frankie Rose

03 Jan 2013 | By

I’m excited to share with you the new cover for Frankie Rose’s upcoming YA dystopia novel, Raksha. It’s set for publication on March 1st 2013.

AUTHOR BIO
authorsFrankie Rose was born in the United Kingdom, but now lives with her husband in sunny Australia.

She officially makes things up for a living, and when she’s not doing that, she is generally making paper birds out of receipts and old lists or taking photographs that make her smile.

Author Links:
Website: http://frankierosewrites.com/
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5834274.Frankie_Rose

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/frankie.rose101

 

Synopsis:

She has no name.She has her knives; her training; her halo.

The first and second give her the tools and the skill to defeat the opponents she is pitted against each month. The third frees her from pain and fear. From any kind of emotion at all. Everything is as it should be. Everything is as it should be, until…

FearPainAngerHappinessDesireGuilt

Love.

When a newly-named Kit escapes the Sanctuary after killing her best friend, the last thing she needs is another knife in her hand. Or Ryka, the damaged, beautiful blonde boy, who she refuses to let save her. Still learning how to process the onslaught of her new feelings, the sights and sounds of Freetown are overwhelming and strange. There are a hundred differences between her old home and her new one, but one thing remains starkly similar: the matches. Yet where the blood in the Sanctuary landed only on the colosseum floor, Kit will quickly learn that a river of red runs through Freetown’s very streets.

Freed from the oppression of a society who stole her right to feel, the true horror of her old life leaves Kit wondering if she really has been freed at all. Would she be better off without the crippling horror of all the blood on her hands, or is the love of one boy worth living through all the pain?

Raksha is the call of the dead. It is the rumbling chant for fresh blood from the other side, the demand for sacrifice. The colosseum is behind Kit. The fighting pits await.

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17157400-raksha

Cover Reveal: Raksha (YA Distopia) by Frankie Rose

Cover designed by Chelsea Starling

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Ebook Cover Designs of the Week

01 Jan 2013 | By

The last few months have been extremely busy I’ve barely had time to think what I was doing let alone update my blog. I’m going to try to start updating more often but for now here are a  few of my latest ebook and print cover designs.

 

ebook cover designs

Available on Amazon

 

fit_ebook

Available on Amazon

ebook cover designs

 Available at Amazon

 

Category: Book Covers, Cover Art Comments off

Book Blitz Tour: The Silver Sphere by Michael Dadich

30 Dec 2012 | By

VBRTThe Silver Sphere Banner Banner copy

MEDIA KIT the-silver-sphere 5

BLURB:  

Shelby Pardow never imagined she could kill someone. All she wants to do is hide from her troubled father… when she is teleported to awaiting soldiers on the planet Azimuth. Here she is not a child, but Kin to one of the six Aulic Assembly members whom Malefic Cacoethes has drugged and imprisoned. He seeks to become dictator of this world (and then Earth by proxy).

His father, Biskara, is an evil celestial entity, tracked by the Assembly with an armillary device, The Silver Sphere. With the Assembly now deposed, Biskara directs Malefic and the Nightlanders to their strategic targets. Unless….

Can Shelby find the other Kin, and develop courage and combat skills? Can the Kin reassemble in time to release or replace the Assembly, overthrowing Malefic and restraining Biskara?

 

 

AUTHOR INFORMATION:

 MEDIA KIT michael 2

I’ve been writing since first setting pencil to steno pad at age 8. A year later, I began developing the world of my current series-in-progress, and even created its title, The Silver Sphere. Now, with the support of years of experience, those early maps and back stories have progressed into what I hope is a fresh and entertaining take on the classic young adult fantasy adventure.

Despite my frequent escapes into parallel worlds, I root myself firmly in my very real family and community. When not pacing the yard maniacally after every few pages of writing, I spend as much time as possible hanging out with my studly 9-year-old son, and my inspirational wife Jenna. I also coach several local youth sports teams in Beverly Hills, and alternate between yelling at my two crazy Corgis and hiking with my trained German Shepherd.

For more, join me in my favorite fantasy worlds, from Lord of the Rings to the creations of C.S. Lewis, Anne McCaffrey and Terry Brooks. Even more importantly, stop by and say hello on my Facebook page at AuthorMichaelDadich, tweet me at @MichaelDadich, and stalk my website at http://www.thesilversphere.org.org.

Category: Guest Posts 4 Comments

Guest Post: Digital Publishing The Grinch Who Stole Christmas by CEO of Astor Blue Editions publisher Tony Viardo

25 Dec 2012 | By

Digital Publishing:

The Grinch Who Stole Christmas?

 by Tony Viardo, publisher CEO of Astor Blue Editions

digital publishing

So how many articles have we read about E-books and Digital Publishing this year? For anyone who generally follows the book world (rabid book-lover, book-blogger, industry pro or casual reader), we’re literally inundated with the amazing numbers—“E-book sales up 125% (again) over the 175% they were up from last year’s 225% increase!”—and equally amazing technological announcements—“Next Fall, the new Zim Witty Zoom Ditty tablet not only updates your Facebook and Goodreads friends whenever you snort in disgust… it cooks dinner for you at the same time!”

 This leads many to take at least casual stock of what’s going on/going to happen to the “Publishing World”as we know it.  And if your friends are like my friends (hardcore print book consumers), that stock is usually pretty morbid (sharp Greenwich Village angst not included):“Print books are doomed, so are brick-and-mortar stores.  Goodbye literary quality.Oh and some pajama-wearing techie living in a basement with a laptop is going to be the new Sulzburger; we’ll all have to bow down!”

 If you (or that good friend of yours) fall into themortified category, my take (for what it’s worth) may come as positive news:  E-books are not, and will not be, the Grinch Who Stole Christmas; in this case, the “Print World’s” bacon. Now, as the owner of a “Digital First” publishing house (Astor + Blue Editions, www.astorandblue.com) my opinions may easily be written off as self-serving and invalid.  But bear with me for a minute… these are fact-based observations and I might just make sense (Someone tell my mom and dad).

 As someone who earns a living from publishing, I have to follow numbers and industry trends as closely as possible.  And while some see doom and gloom for Print, I see exciting developments for both Print and E-book formats.  What do the numbers show?  Digital book revenue is skyrocketing, print revenue is declining.  Natural conclusion?E-books are killing print books. But not so fast.  Historically, Print revenue has always seemed to be declining (even before E-books were invented), but that doesn’t mean the book market is dying or shrinking.

 We have to remember that in fact the book market isgrowing. Readership always grows because population always grows.  Every year, new readers enter the vast pool of the club that is“adult readership,” (despite Dancing with the Stars). And every year more readers are being born and theoretically being inspired by Ms. Crabtree’s elementary reading class.**So why the decline?  Readership grows gradually, but the sheer number of books and book vendors grow exponentially, showing an investment loss almost every year. (Basic statistics: the widening universe makes it look like a shrinking pie when it isn’t).

 So what does this mean?  If you look at the numbers (historically), revenue for print books may havedeclined, yes, but not more than “normal,” and not significantly more than it did when there were no E-books around. (This is arguable of course, but the long term numbers do not show a precipitous drop-off). The yearly revenue decline, if there is one, can just as easily be written off to economic conditions as to E-book competition.  Bottom line:  Any drop in print revenue that may be caused by E-books are not significantly sharp enough to declare that E-books are destroying print book sales.(Hence no Grinch).

 What may be happening, and what I believe is happening is that a whole new market for E-books is developing, while the print book market growth, like Publishing as a whole, is still growing at ahistorically gradual pace. (Boringly flat).  Come up with your pet anecdote here, but I believe that more new readers are entering the market (who otherwise wouldn’t have) because of E-readers; existing readers are consuming more books (both print and e-book) than they did before; and while it would seem that a certain print title is losing a sale wheneverreaders buy it in E-book format, this is offset, at least somewhat, by the fact that more print titles are being bought (that otherwise wouldn’t) because of the extra marketing buzz and added awareness produced by the E-book’s cyber presence.  All of it evens out in the end, and I believe, ultimately fosters growth industry-wide.

 So take heart Print fans, E-books are not the dark villain you think they are.And here, I should correct my earlier analogy—that E-books are not the Grinch Who Stole Christmas.  They may actually be the Grinch…in as much as, at the end of the story, the pear-shaped green guy ended up not only giving all the presents back to the singing Who-villers, he created a flash mob and started a big party as well.

Astor +Blue Editions has put its entire first season’s list of e-book titles on a holiday promotional sale for $0.99 or $1.99. The sale will continue through January 7, 2013.

Below  is a sample of the books available.

To view all of their entire catalog of books available visit their website:

http://astorandblue.com/catalog/.  

romance ebooks

Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble
icon

on sale for 99¢ for limited time

DESCRIPTION

A wild and sexy romp through the 19th Century based on the real-life adventures of the audacious Lola Montez, “The Sensation of Europe.”

Astor + Blue Editions is proud to present, Whip Smart: Lola Montez Conquers the Spaniards, the rollicking first installment of a new series by debut author, Kit Brennan. continue reading..

thriller ebooksAvailable at Amazon and Barnes & Noble
icon

on sale for $1.99 limited time

DESCRIPTION

When a top secret government program of implanting harrowing memories into innocent people comes to light, neurosurgeon Tom McCarthy is literally caught in the crossfire.  While McCarthy looks forward to a three day weekend, his office is suddenly raided by two Department of Defense investigators bent on arresting him for a crime he didn’t commit. All hell breaks loose when an inadvertent scuffle escalates, leaving one agent dead at the hands of the other, and McCarthy fleeing but hopelessly trapped inside the labyrinthine corridors, heating ducts, and stairways of a gigantic Seattle medical center. continue reading…

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Guest Post by Author of Diary of a Single Mormon Female

20 Dec 2012 | By

Today I’m excited to have a guest post from author Aleesa Sutton. After her post I’ll share info on her latest book, Diary of a Single Mormon Female.
diary of a single mormon female

Guest Post
by Aleesa Sutton

I was supposed to be having the time of my life in Italy. I’d quit my job, sold all my belongings and begun a backpacking trip across Europe the year I turned 30, looking for a fresh start. Maybe, just maybe, I’d also find the man of my dreams and end my years of being single and lonely.

But there I was at a Mormon singles dance in Milan, learning a strange Italian version of the hokey-pokey (emphasis on hokey) and reeling from fresh heartbreak. The hot, Mormon Italian guy who’d been putting the moves on me had suddenly decided to get back with his old girlfriend.

Being single can be especially difficult in the Mormon, or LDS church, where there is a strong emphasis on the importance of marriage and family. I’d been primed for my “happily ever after” since I was a teenager. I thought I’d be married long ago with a baby or two by now, like pretty much all my friends, college roommates and even kids I used to babysit.

So what do you do when the thing you long for, your most important dream, hasn’t been realized yet? You go back and look at all your efforts to make it happen. You find the humour. You find the pain. And you tell your story, in hopes of understanding it better. And maybe it will help someone else understand their story better, too.

I started writing in my diary about boys when I was about ten. Writing had always helped me make sense of my feelings and the situations that caused them. In putting together this book, I thought it’d be fun to go back and look at how I had written about boys as a teenager (I once described my crush’s eyes as “Brown. Meltable. So bOINGy.”), as a university student (where I described one frustrating date who wanted to talk about his grandpa’s migraine headaches at the formal dance) and as an older young adult (when I made the mistake of baking “tuna tarts” for a guy I liked). Of course, God was also part of my life, and the details of that sometimes-rocky relationship are also included.

This memoir tells my story through a compilation of those diary entries and my modern-day musings. Not only was it a lot of fun to write, it helped me find some peace with my current state. I think readers will relate to the experiences and laugh and cry right along with me. I welcome you to come and enjoy the ride of a single Mormon female’s life.

diary of a single mormon female

Diary of a Single Mormon Female

A funny, moving memoir about coping without Mr. Right.

Available at Amazon
Synopsis:

She’s standing at the refreshment table at yet another Mormon (LDS) singles conference when a new guy, tall and good-looking, walks through the door. Hope rises—could he be the one?—but is dashed a minute later, when she sees hordes of women descending upon him. It’s like watching a pride of lionesses bearing down on an oblivious young gazelle.Find the man of her dreams, have a Mormon temple marriage and live happily ever after. (Just one husband, one wife. No polygamy here.) That was always the plan, ever since she was a shy, awkward, home-schooled teenager who just wanted a boy to kiss her. But dating has been unsuccessful—none of her relationships have gone anywhere. She’s 32 and still single, trying to live a meaningful life in a church defined by its commitment to marriage and family. How can Joseph Smith’s truths or the Book of Mormon he translated help when she can’t even get a date for Saturday night?

This wry and moving memoir details that life through authentic journal entries, with candid stories about her encounters with scripture juggling, a virtual albino Chinese teenager, chastity lines, the virgin lips club, Brazilians (not that kind), a pink flamingo date messenger, an elusive guitarist in Malta, an open-minded parrot, a Swiss lumberjack, Icelandic Mormons, a marriage flowchart and dozens of awkward conversations.

Chapters include: “The Hunk of Burnin’ Love”; “Was I Weak-Butted?”; “Who Talks About Grandpa’s Migraine Headaches on a Dream Date??”; “Virgins, in This Day and Age!” and “Do You Think I Have Nerves of Steel?” Actual diary pages and photos accompany the text.

Will she ever find the man of her dreams? And will she succeed in reconciling her beliefs with her reality? Some days it feels like it would take nothing less than a fairy godmother and a magic wand.

Author Bio:
A 7 cropped

Aleesa has degrees from the Royal Conservatory of Music and Brigham Young University (Provo). These have opened up countless opportunities such as legal secretary, double-decker tour bus guide and ice cream scooper. Once, she also played the piano at a crazy Mexican couple’s dinner party, where they tied a bib around her neck and spoon-fed her soup.

She starved artfully for a few years in Toronto before becoming a Cambridge-certified English as a second language teacher and going hungry a little less. She also met tons of international students, some of whom even gave her free stuff!

When her 10-month backpacking trip across Europe in 2010 surprisingly did not produce the husband she’d always dreamed of, she came home and decided to write a book about it all.

Aleesa lives in Vancouver, BC, where she teaches English at a private college and dreams of sharing the fridge with someone, someday.

Connect with Aleesa:
Twitter: @MormonFemale
See live video of Aleesa at:
- the author participates in a guest panel on Huffington Post live chat, Mormon Singles Crisis, Sept 2012,
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Book Blitz: The Christmas Dare by Joan Chandler

19 Dec 2012 | By

christmas dareThe Christmas Dare

by Joan Chandler

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 Cover_TheChristmasDare

BLURB:

 

Self-professed Christmas addict Gia Dixon, and by-the-book Ethan Castle have been best friends all their lives. When tragedy strikes Ethan’s family, Gia’s the rock he depends on to pull him through the darkest days. Then, a shared, long-forgotten memory leads to an unexpected yet tender kiss.  Can a simple Christmas dare help them find true love?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Excerpt:

She made a face at him as she prepared to get out of the car, and then flipped around to her knees to reach between the seats to gather up her packages. As she pulled everything forward through the gap, she leaned over to kiss his cheek.

He caught her by surprise when he turned to face her, causing their lips to meet. Her eyes widened, while his turned dark.

“Gia,” he said, the name coming out of his mouth in a low rasp.

She closed her eyes but didn’t move. She couldn’t speak. Then she sensed when he was about to kiss her again. She tilted her face up to receive it, her lips parting to let him know she wasn’t opposed.

Ethan put his hands on either side of her head, his long fingers wrapping around to bury themselves in her thick, blonde hair. “Gia,” he whispered again as he closed his mouth over hers and slipped his tongue inside. She twirled hers around it, gently sucking. They were lost in the moment, oblivious to whether anyone else was around or not. They forgot where they were. They even forgot who they were. And in their place, these two sensual, passionate creatures tangled their arms around each other and kissed as if their lives depended on it.

Finally, Ethan sighed and pulled back a little. “Tell me that this is okay with you. Please say that it is.”

Gia had trouble finding her voice, so instead she pulled his mouth to hers again and greedily kissed him. When it ended, she asked breathily, “Does that answer your question?”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Joan Chandler is a Florida native who has lived in the Deep South all of her life. She is married with two children who are her pride and joy. She lives a double life of sorts, holding down a nine-to-five job during the day, and writing steamy romance at night—often with her black cat curled up in her arms as she types.

When she’s not spending her spare time working on her next novel, she loves to go camping, sharing girls’ night out with her friends, walking her two dogs, and watching football.

 

BLOG:  www.joanchandler.wordpress.com

 

Twitter account:   @joanchandler1

 

Find me on facebook:  Joan Chandler

 

Previously published works are Perfectly Imperfect, and No Regrets.  Both are available at:

 

Bookstrand.com

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

 

Category: General, Guest Posts 6 Comments

Free Urban Fantasy Kindle Book: Blood Faerie

15 Dec 2012 | By

In order to celebrate the release of book four in the Caledonia Fae series, Druid Lords , author India Drummond has made the first book of the series available free for limited time. Get  Blood Faerie free for your Kindle from Dec 15th-17th.
kindle book

Available Free on Amazon Dec 15th-17th

Download HERE

 

DESCRIPTION:
Unjustly sentenced to death, Eilidh ran–away from faerie lands, to the streets of Perth, Scotland. Just as she has grown accustomed to exile, local police discover a mutilated body outside the abandoned church where she lives. Recognising the murder as the work of one of her own kind, Eilidh must choose: flee, or learn to tap into the forbidden magic that cost her everything.

 

REVIEWS:

“If you like a little magic with your murder, Blood Faerie will keep you turning the pages.” L.J. Sellers, author of the bestselling Detective Jackson series

“…from page one I was pretty much hooked like a carp.” Mark Everett Stone, author of Things to Do in Denver When You’re Undead

“If you’re looking for a compelling, well written mystery with a touch of romance, I highly recommend this book.” – Talli Roland, author of The Hating Game

“…by far one of the best books I have read with regards to the realm of the Fae.”  -Darkissreads.com

“This novel has a lot going for it. There is tension and evident culture clashes with a splash of romance thrown in for good measure.” -ForBooksSake.net

“All in all, this is hands down one of the most unique Fae stories I have ever read before- India Drummond has truly created a beautiful world.” – Avery’s Book Nook

Other books in the series (click images to view):
  

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