Tag: indie authors

Yecheilyah’s Book Reviews – Waiting in the Wings by Stevie Turner

Name: Waiting in the Wings

Author: Stevie Turner

Print Length: 199 pages

Publisher: KDP (November 30, 2016)

Publication Date: November 30, 2016

Language: English

ASIN: B01M3MOEPV

In Waiting in the Wings, Stevie’s mother, Dot is sick and getting worse as time progresses. Dorothy Eliza Wilkins or Dot had a breech birth. (My twin sister was breech as well. It means that she was born feet first instead of head first.) Sadly, Dot suffered a dislocated hip due to being pulled from the womb by her left leg and developed osteomyelitis at four years of age after a fall.

This would play a major role in her adult life, especially as she ages and her body deteriorates and her mobility becomes limited.

The relationship between Dot and Stevie is one in which Dot has become the child and Stevie the adult. Both mother and daughter struggle to endure this transition, which understandably takes its toll on them both. Stevie helps her mom through her depression by reliving old memories.

We are invited into Stevie and Dot’s past and watch how it influences Stevie in real time. We watch her examine her relationship with Dot while enduring the trials of caring for a sick parent while balancing her own illness.

Ratings:

Plot Movement / Strength: 4/5

Entertainment Factor: 4/5

Characterization: 5/5

Authenticity / Believable: 5/5

Thought Provoking: 5/5

Overall Rating: 5 / 5

Waiting in the Wings is Available on Amazon

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Stevie has lots of books for you so be sure to find her online!

Website

http://www.stevie-turner-author.co.uk/

Blog

https://steviet3.wordpress.com/

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/StevieTurnerAuthor/

Twitter @stevieturner6

Goodreads

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7172051.Stevie_Turner

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Stay tuned for my next awesome author!

9 Best Grammar Tools For Writers

9 Best Grammar Tools For Writers

Nicholas C. Rossis's avatarNicholas C. Rossis

You may remember Mary Walton’s recent guest post, 10 Proofreading Tools For Writers. This is another fine list of author resources compiled by her. Oh, and here is one of my favorite comics of all time:Grammar Cyanide and Happiness | From the blog of Nicholas C. Rossis, author of science fiction, the Pearseus epic fantasy series and children's books

9 Best Grammar Tools For Writers

The most interesting, fascinating book can fall down if the grammar is poor. No reader will want to continue if the book is too difficult to read. That’s why your grammar is so important in everything you write. If you find that you don’t know enough about grammar to skilfully edit your writing, you’re in luck. This guide will show you nine online tools that will really help you out when you’re in a bind.

  1. Academized: Invest some time in your writing skills and read this guide. It’s comprehensive yet easy to understand, making it perfect for writers. By reading it, you can get a good…

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Self-Publishing: Five Time-Saving Tools

Time saving tools for authors from The Writer’s Path Blog. I use Grammarly, Canva, and Mailchimp so I’ll vouch for these: )

theryanlanz's avatarRyan Lanz

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by Hope Ann

A writer’s life is filled with so much more than the mere creating of stories. There is editing and proofreading. Marketing and newsletters. Blogging and graphics. We can take any help offered, and here are five free tools which have helped me save time and work the best I can.

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6 Signs of Scam Publishers

Great post on identifying the red flags of SCAM Publishers (even if they don’t intend to Scam, you should still know where you stand).

Post Quote: “If they plan to use Createspace or Lulu, don’t give them the time of day. You can do the same yourself and will not have to split any of the profits. Again it comes back to value, in some way, a publisher needs to increase your efforts, even if that means only getting your books into a few regional stores. If they do not have their own distribution network they are not worth your time.”

Steven Capps's avatarBard & Books

As a warning, I am writing the rough draft of this post on my IPhone while I do cardio at the gym (cue gym selfie below). I am trying to be more efficient and thought that this would be a good time to get in some writing.

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Earlier today, I was browsing Facebook and amid the swath of political drivel, I found an advertisement for a publisher looking for authors. Several red flags flickered almost immediately. Though this post is inspired by an actual publisher, I am going to omit their name because when I reached out to them, they deleted the content. It seemed like they were more of a naive kid rather than a malicious con-artist. Regardless, here are 6 Red Flags to be aware of when looking into a publisher.

Red Flags of Scam Publishers

1. Poor Marketing Design

It doesn’t take an award winning artist to…

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Author Services You May or May Not Know About

Are you new to this blog?

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I know that not everyone following this blog is an author / writer / aspiring writer, but many of you are.

If you aren’t familiar with this blog, I offer a few services that you may or may not know about.

  • Email List Book Promotions
  • Writer’s Workshop (Details TBA)
  • Book Reviews
  • Book Review Follow-Up: Where Are They Now?
  • Introduce Yourself

Email List Book Promotions are Book Covers, Blurbs, and Buy Links that I promote to my email list at no cost. But you must be on my newsletter to take advantage of this offer.

Sign Up HERE and then send me your Book Cover, Blurb, and Buy Link. My newsletters go out once a month (18th) or twice a month for those who choose bimonthly (3rd, 18th).

Book Reviews are published to this blog on Friday’s. New Book Review submissions are currently closed until my TBR pile is low. However, you should keep checking my Book Review Registry to see when I am open again. Again, I am not currently accepting new submissions for book reviews.

BUT, it’s a good idea to follow this blog so you can get first notification when I re-open!

Understand that registering for a review does not guarantee you the review. I still have to see if it’s the book for me. I will then get in touch with you and let you know.

It is good to register because I have lots of books to read and the registry puts you on my list and secures you a spot in line.

I review books in the order in which I receive them. When I am open, you won’t see the message that I am not accepting responses. I will also be vocal about it on this blog and social media.

Books that I promote (Book Reviews or Book Promos) are also listed under the Indie Author page in my sidebar.

When I open back up I’d like to read more of my favorite genres in addition to the others. I encourage authors with African American centered themes in particular to reach out to me.

What’s New?

Book Review Follow-Up: Where Are They Now? – I’ve been reviewing books since 2015 and have met some great writers. But once I’ve reviewed you, I’d like to continue to support you. I’ve been in touch with some authors and have decided to introduce a Follow-Up segment of the Book Reviews. Book Review Follow-Up: Where Are They Now? is an author interview following up on the authors whose books I reviewed. I have not set a date for this feature but I do have some authors lined up who are eager to meet you all. When I lock their dates in I will do an entire post dedicated to this new feature and give you the start date and the frequency of the interviews (weekly or monthly).

If you’re interested in being interviewed on this blog please email me HERE.

You must have had your book reviewed by me to qualify for the Book Review Follow- Up since this is a book review follow-up series. (yea, kinda self-explanatory but you never know…)

If I’ve already reviewed your book, send me an email.

Introduce Yourself – Can’t get a review in at this time? I have a new feature that I will be doing a separate post on real soon. I will share the motivation behind this segment in that post but in brief, at the close of last year I stated I wanted to offer another service for authors on this blog aside from the Book Reviews. After much thought I have many ideas (some I won’t implement at this time) and some that I will.

Many authors have been writing for years and have multiple works out however they are unknown in the blogging community or writing community in general. Even for those who are known there are always someone who has never read your work or probably don’t even know that you’ve written a book.

I’d like to offer this space to new and established authors as an opportunity to introduce themselves in an interview-like setting. The questions in particular will be tailored toward getting to know more about you as an author and as a person.

More information on Introduce Yourself coming soon.

UPDATE: Learn more about author interviews HERE.

My Advice for New Writers by John W. Howell

Great advice for both new and established writers. Post Quote: “Reality 1. Readers have no idea who you are. You need to market yourself and your books. You need to understand social media, marketing, selling, and general good business practices.”

Vicki Goodwin's avatarMystery Thriller Week

Your book

I was at a book signing the other day, and a person asked me a question that caused me to have to think a little before blurting out an answer. The question was, “What should every new writer know?” My answer at the time seemed to satisfy the person asking but after giving it a little more thought I decided that my reply was at best adequate and at worst incomplete. Now thanks to the Mystery Thriller Week I have been given another opportunity to adequately express what I have no come to call My Advice for New Writers that Every New Writer Should Know Before Deciding to Become a Writer. I think you can tell from my title that the thought process has grown from my initial response at the book signing. Also, if you have decided to become a writer no matter what anyone tells you, I would…

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Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing – Uncovering the Truth about Vanity Publishers by @CuriouserEdit

Must watch video. I really dislike being used and I hate scams so I am sharing this info.

I think the key problem with this situation is that most authors don’t know much about Book Publishing. I don’t mean far as publishing our own books, I mean the publishing industry itself, how it works (I’m still learning myself). It’s easy for someone to pay someone to publish their book for them if they are interested in someone doing all the work but they don’t know that paying publishers is not how it works. Publishers invest in the author by providing everything (Book Cover, Editing, Formatting, ISBN, everything), and they make this money back in Royalties. As Shayla explains, that’s why it’s difficult to get accepted by a Traditional Publisher. If they are going to invest in your work they need to know your book can sell, otherwise they don’t get their money back. Of course, I’m not saying it should be all about the money but this is a business and that’s how it works. Anywho, here’s Shayla. (You can read the script HERE for the vocab.