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Showing posts from October, 2012

New Feature: Words of the Week

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Buffer Every one and their dog has a Word of the Day feature. But I'm not that talented. Well, it's not really about talent. I just don't have the time or energy to come up with a word of the day post. Plus this site is already full of other kinds of posts. But since learning new things is a passion of mine, I'm going to give this a try.

13 Ways to Exorcise Wordiness - Syndicated from @worddreams

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Buffer Syndicated from Jacqui Murray's WordDreams… Posted here with her permission. Follow @worddreams

The Secret to Creativity - guest post by @beajumarang

Buffer Written by Bea Kylene Jumarang Follow @beajumarang Whatever niche you're in, the experience is the same. You feel blocked and completely flat, wondering how you'll come up with your next blog post. The deadline on your editorial calendar is looming, and yet your idea well has gone completely dry. Your head is already exhausted, yet you feel as if you're getting nowhere. And when you do attempt to get the words down, it's like trying to run a marathon while being dehydrated.

Super Book Blast: Healing Notes by @maggiejaimeson #romance

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WARNING: Read this paranormal adventure at your own risk!

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Buffer The Stone Theory Tales of an Accidental Demon Hunter Written by E.M. Marz Follow @ScaryBooks4All

Book Review: Dust to Blood by Tonya Cannariato #dragons #paranormal

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Buffer Dust to Blood By Tonya Cannariato Genre: Fantasy, Crypto-History Book Synopsis Chicago-based researcher Anne Crosby is traveling to Russia to investigate the hidden past of nine orphans who share an unusual bond--dust for blood. On her intriguing journey through post-Soviet Union Russia, she discovers a secret power buried in the country's history and sought by the newly reborn KGB, which is determined to regain ascendancy. Secret dungeons, dragons, and her research associates' KGB connections have Anne looking over her shoulder at every turn. That doesn't prevent her from indulging in a bit of matchmaking in the midst of frantic adventures chasing down old secrets, rescuing a 15-year-old girl who is more than she seems, and running from rogue KGB agents. As Anne and her entourage dig deeper into the ancient mysteries, she learns nothing is what it appears. Her life is forever transformed by her search for the true history of these Red Slaves.

Amazon: Stop Arbitrarily Removing Customer Reviews From Indie Author Books - sign a petition

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Buffer There's an outcry in the Indie world. Up until today I haven't personally seen evidence myself, but I don't doubt something weird is going on. Reviews on Amazon are being taken off in Amazon's attempt to improve the quality of their reviews. It's possible a few of our reviews have had a similar fate. I show 94 "posted" reviews on this site, but Amazon only has 92 of our reviews. It's possible that I missed posting one or two, or some other legit reason the review is no longer there.

Creating a Magic System, Part 2: Style and Powers — syndicated post from @thefourpartland

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Buffer The following is syndicated from The Four Part Land and is posted here with permission. Last time , I looked at how Strength and Prevalence affect both a magic system and a setting. This time around, I'm going to look at Style and Powers . First off, a little background on each. Style is how the interactions with magic are portrayed to the reader, and how the characters in the story believe that magic acts. Powers is what can be done with that magic.

Lazenby’s Aetheriolabe - short story by @jcameronmcclain

Buffer Lazenby’s Aetheriolabe Short Story by J. Cameron McClain Follow @jcameronmcclain Web: https://www.facebook.com/JCameronMcClain

Great advice on how to choose your book title - guest post by @thewritershouse

Buffer The following is a guest post by Claire Pickering and Rebecca Richmond at The Writers' House UK.

Courtroom Novella: Javier's Defense by Ralph Shamas - no cost to you on October 27th.

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Buffer Javier's Defense Written by Ralph Shamas

When do you follow writing rules? Syndicated post from @worddreams

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Buffer The following is syndicated from Jacqui Murray's WordDreams… and is posted here with permission. When you start writing, it sounds easy–write what you know. Pour what’s inside you out on the paper and like blowflies to a corpse, readers will find you.

Looking for Beta Readers for our Time Travel Anthology

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Buffer For those of you who haven't heard, we are putting together an anthology of short stories to be published on Amazon as an e-book. The theme of the anthology is time travel, specifically the following prompt: In the spirit of H.G. Well's "The Time Machine," one character or a group of characters travel many years into the future. What do they find there? Are they able to come back home, or are they trapped? What has become of mankind? Is life better or worse? What's the political climate? The real climate? (IOW mother nature) The choices are up to you.

Designing a Book Cover or Jacket - Guest Post by @thewritershouse

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Buffer The following is a guest post by Claire Pickering and Rebecca Richmond at The Writers' House UK. Blog: http://www.writershouse.co.uk/blog Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WritersHouseUK LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/claire-pickering/25/7a8/200 Follow @thewritershouse

9 Reasons The Masquerade Crew Should Market Your Book

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Buffer We want to help you succeed in the book promotion game. That's why we have designed a book promotion system that is both unique and centered on the Indie author. Consider these 9 reasons why this is so.

How to Write a Blurb - guest post by @thewritershouse

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Buffer The following is a guest post by Claire Pickering and Rebecca Richmond at The Writers' House UK. Blog: http://www.writershouse.co.uk/blog Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WritersHouseUK LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/claire-pickering/25/7a8/200 Follow @thewritershouse

Bloggers, help OMAR by @craigt1 hit bestseller status again.

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Bloggers, an invitation to help out @DianthaJones author of Oracle of Delphi series

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Should You Publish Your Screenplay on Kindle?

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Buffer Author and screenwriter, London Tracy, answers with a resounding absolutely! And the reason is simple. Each year over 50,000 screenplays are registered with the Writer’s Guild of America, making screenwriting one of the most competitive fields on the planet. A screenplay can sell for $100,000, even for the first-timer. This fact alone attracts many talented and untalented writers, hoping and praying to score the big-money payday. However, the truth of the matter is that only one percent of screenwriters are ever likely to achieve that goal.

Authors, I want to buy your book. Syndicated post from @TheObjectNovel

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Buffer The following is a syndicated post from The Object: an interactive serial novel and is posted here with permission. Yeah, I thought that would get your attention.  The good news is I’m not joking.  Okay, so here’s the deal: I’ve launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for my upcoming book release and tour.  If you’re not familiar with Kickstarter, it’s a fundraiser platform designed for people to pledge money in exchange for a reward.  The greater the pledge, the greater the reward. This is where you come in.  For certain pledge levels, I’m giving away paperbacks of other indie authors, and I’m also going to surprise some of the lower-level backers with an extra reward.

Enter to grab your own copy of LUCA'S MAGIC EMBRACE by @KymGrosso

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Buffer   Publication Date : October 18, 2012 Series : Immortals of New Orleans #2 Genre : Paranormal Romance An erotic, paranormal romance… Sexy vampire, Luca Macquarie doesn’t do love; especially not with humans. Yet, ever since he rescued Samantha Irving, he can’t deny the enigmatic attraction he’s developed for the alluring mortal woman. Concerned for her safety, he’s determined to bring Samantha back to her coven. His mission is to go find the novice witch and bring her home, nothing more, nothing less; falling for her is not supposed to be part of the plan. Samantha doesn’t want to be a witch, yet that’s exactly what she is. After failing to elicit her magic, she escapes to the mountains in an attempt to resume a semblance of her previous human life. When an arsonist torches her cabin, Samantha’s worst fears are realized. Aware that her life is on the line, she reluctantly agrees to return to New Orleans with Luca. In the Big Easy, Samantha and Luca embark on

Writing Tips from a NANO Survivor — guest post by @Ginagina7

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Buffer The following is a guest post by Gina Rossi. Facebook: facebook.com/gina.rossi.7 Pinterest: pinterest.com/ginarossiwriter Follow @Ginagina7

Writing Tip: There Is an Easy Fix — syndicated post from @MarnyCopal

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Buffer The following is syndicated from Marny Copal's blog and is posted here with permission. “There is” and “there are” are commonly used in the English language. What some people may not know is that there is a clutter word. It’s indirect and doesn’t convey much meaning other than indicating the existence of something. This leads to another problem: a boring verb.

Creating a Magic System, Part 1 — syndicated post from @thefourpartland

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Buffer The following is syndicated from The Four Part Land and is posted here with permission. In my eyes, what sets fantasy apart from any other setting is magic. How it is handled, the strength, the interactions, but mostly its very existence. Magic is the glue that holds a fantasy setting together, because it reflects the characteristics of the setting and the people within it. Very often this includes the main character. Goodkind, Jordan, Brooks, Rowling, all of them have their primary character(s) wield magic.

How To Avoid The 50-Page Burn-Out — syndicated post from @eThrillerWriter

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Buffer The following is syndicated from Thriller Writer: the website of author Eric J. Gates and is posted here with permission. I’ve spoken to hundreds of people over the course of the years, all of whom had one thing in common. OK, two – they were all frustrated and they all classed themselves as ‘aspiring’ writer. Why aspiring? I would ask. Those of you who read my occasional blogs know that my position on this is either you write or you don’t. I think it was the Bengali philosopher and poet Rabindranath Tagore who said “You can't cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water.” Their confusion with my posture is that they confuse ‘aspiring writer’ with ‘published writer’ or ‘famous author’. Hey, wake up! While they’ve be lamenting their lack of writing success, the World has moved on. This is a different paradigm. Many of the ‘traditional’ obstacles in ‘Traditional Publishing’ have ‘traditioned’ themselves out of the game.

A Serial Killer Plagues an Island Paradise - excerpt from DARK MIND by @jchasenovelist

Buffer Dark Mind The Emily Stone Series Written by Jennifer Chase Follow @jchasenovelist

Check out Spencer's Face by @AutumnB17139070 — Contemporary Romance

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Buffer Spencer's Face Buckeye Hawks Series by Autumn Brown Follow @AutumnB17139070

Check out The Fox Farewell by @MPELennon — Free on October 19th

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Buffer Killing O'Reilly The Fox Farewell How O'Reilly & friends will vanish from cable in a second Obama term. By M P E Lennon Follow @MPELennon

1 Piece of Advice About NaNoWriMo — guest post by @martieKay

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Buffer By Kelly Martin Follow @martieKay Last November, I decided to participate in my very first NaNoWriMo. Some thought I was crazy (they might have been right), but I did it none-the-less. I ‘won’ NaNo before Thanksgiving much to the happiness of my family and my poor, worn-out fingers.

MEET Fallon AKA @Fallon_Christy, Our New Crew Member

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Buffer Tell everyone a little bit about yourself. A little bit about myself. I am Fallon. A woman who turns thirty next summer, but I don’t feel that ‘old.’ I actually still see myself as a girl. I don’t feel like a grown up that I used to look up to when I was little. I started a new study last September. Theater, film and television studies, which leads to the fact that I am shooting my first short film right now. It’s supposed to be screened on November 14 th and available online on the 15 th . 

Writing Tip: The Risk of Being a Good Student — guest post by @AnthonyOtten

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Buffer By Anthony J. Otten Follow @AnthonyOtten You remember the sacred writing process from grade school. Prewrite. Outline main topics and supporting details. Rough out a draft with intro and closing. And so on. For a first-time writer, these training wheels often prove helpful. But if we later decide to tackle a creative work like a novel, this prepackaged formula may hamper the joy of art rather than stoke it. When we begin a complex piece in the thrill of creation, our first instinct is often to outline each event, each setting, each character – sometimes so obsessively that we strain to foresee what will happen late in our novels before we’ve even written the opening passage. If satisfied, this urge to sketch out everything beforehand usually makes it feel as if you’re writing your book twice.

Publish Your Screenplay on Kindle by @londontracy44 — Get it for Zero Dinero on October 18th

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Buffer Publish Your Screenplay on Kindle Written by London Tracy Follow @londontracy44

We are looking for writing tips ... got any?

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Buffer With National Novel Writing Month (NaNo) starting in just a few weeks, I thought it would be a good time to run a series of posts about writing, specifically tips that would benefit writers before, during, and after NaNo; thus, tips for writing that first draft.

MEET DaLynn AKA @dalynnrmc, Our New Crew Member

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Buffer Tell everyone a little bit about yourself. I'm a Christian wife and stay-at-home, homeschooling mama to five kiddos ranging in age from 13 to the 2-year-old twins. Bill and I have been married for over 11 years, and are currently living just outside Waco near family while he attends nursing school. My days are busy, but my heart is full, and I live life seeking to please the Lord and further His Kingdom.

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Buffer <a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/7988329/?claim=vr7cbbt79rp">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

Have your book sales plummeted?

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Buffer I received an email from an author today. He was worried about his recent book sales. Here's a few quotes: …something terrible has happened to my sales… Sales went from 27 to 40 a day up through the end of August, then took a huge fall in Sept to 5 or 6 a day... then, in Oct […], my book took another dive to between 0 and 2 a day, depending on the day. This is crazy!

MEET Debbie AKA @imsimplydebbie, Our New Crew Member

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Buffer Tell everyone a little bit about yourself. Social media savvy, friendly, inspiring and positive by nature, I'm an accountant by day and a writer by night. I can usually be found with a book in hand, and have at least three different ones going at once. This might sound confusing to the average person, but I know the story lines in all of them, and can even quote some lines to my favorite novels, months after reading them.

MEET Jaynessa, AKA @birbitt, Our New Crew Member

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Buffer Tell everyone a little bit about yourself. I am a Christian SAHM of 3 boys and wife to my husband of 10 years.   We are a homeschooling family, and I am currently in college as well (never too old to learn right?). My sons are 9, 8 and 3 and I also babysit a wonderful 18month old boy! Who are some of your favorite authors? Books?  Favorite authors?  Well I love Sue Grafton, and Janet Evanovich, as well as Kathy Reichs, Tess Gerritsen, Jeffrey Deaver and Jeff Lindsay but there are so many I can’t list them all!

Check out DARK MIND by @JChaseNovelist

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Buffer Dark Mind The Emily Stone Series Written by Jennifer Chase Synopsis : A Serial Killer Plagues an Island Paradise Vigilante detective Emily Stone continues her covert pursuits to find serial killers and child abductors, all under the radar while shadowing police investigations.

If you manually share via Triberr ...

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Buffer Being in 28 tribes and having more than 800 tribemates in all, I do a lot of manual sharing via Triberr. So much in fact that I use Buffer to spread out tweets so that my manual tweets aren't bunched all together, even though sometimes they still are.

"I was quickly pulled in within the first 2 pages of chapter one."

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Buffer Where Shadows Dance Written by Vered Ehsani Genre: Young Adult Book Synopsis Ash was looking forward to a summer of camping with friends and time travelling. Then his Great Aunt fades away (literally), his near-death nightmare gets even weirder and he keeps falling into someone else’s dreams. On top of that, his house is attacked and he gets trapped in the past while trying to help a new friend who isn't too friendly. Juna isn't having a great time of it either: having escaped from her parole officer, she barely survives a plane crash and a bizarre tornado that keeps appearing in the most unlikely situations. While Ash and Juna try to get out of the past and back home, events and dreams keep pointing them to the place where it all starts and ends, where shadows dance and time bends. If they can get there, they may be able to stop an implacable enemy from destroying their future. Of course, getting there means surviving first…

Currently reading books by @saalon @vscotttheauthor and @RobertPFrench

Buffer A quick shout out for the authors I'm currently reading. Yes, I read more than one book at a time. For two reasons: Depending on my mood I want a different book. Based upon my geographic location: Kindle (by the bedside mostly)—Broken Magic by Eric Sipple Paperback in the spare bedroom for when I can't sleep...AKA snoring problem—Junkie by Robert P. French Converted audio book on my iPod for when I can listen but can't read—Wreck of the Nebula Dream by Veronica Scott* *I use a program called Natural Reader to convert an e-book to an audio book. Not as good as the real thing, but I can still get very much into the story. In fact, I get through more books this way than reading the books myself. Check out the books listed above. I recommend them all. Book reviews pending (sooner or later).

How do you get started on your characters? syndicated interview from @KitaraLemur

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Buffer The following is syndicated from the site of Janet Wrenn and is posted here with permission. Aspire and Inspire Meet Author Charity Parkerson This week I have the pleasure of introducing you to Charity Parkerson, author of The Sinners Series, the Sexy Witches Series, and soon to be released A Splash of Hope. And that's just to name a few! She is also one of the stars of the podcast The Melissa Craig and Charity Parkerson Show. 

Free Promotion is Out ... but not completely.

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Buffer This blog is a year old this month. Actually it's been around for a little more than a year, but it was in October of last year that I got serious about helping Indie authors. In fact, our first book review of an Indie went up October 1, 2011, which you can read HERE .

How would you like me to promote your book?

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Buffer THIS POST IS OUT OF DATE NOTICE The advertising packages are in the process of being redesigned. The new packages will cost the same but offer slightly different options. Those that buy packages now will be converted over to the new system once it becomes live. I apologize for any inconvenience. Book promotion on this site is done via bundled packages, which contain the following elements (click on the links to read about each element): Twitter Marketing Ad Space Left Side Bar (book cover) Right Side Bar (Amazon buy link) Banner Ad at the top Promotion Blog Posts Blog Tours

Blog Tour Details from The Masquerade Crew

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Buffer Most other blog tour outfits focus their efforts on a specific number of blogs per tour. The more blogs they get to participate, the more expensive the tour costs because it takes time to verify that every blog posted as they were supposed to. I'm not going to operate that way. Instead, every tour will have as many blogs as I can get. I won't worry about traffic levels for each blog.

Sign Up to Be a Book Blog Tour Host with The Masquerade Crew

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Buffer Sign Up! If you've signed up for this in the past, you don't need to do so again. It's the same list on my end. In fact, everyone who has already signed up should have received an email from me. Loading...

List of Blog Tours

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If you haven't signed up to be a tour host with us, please do so before you participate in any of the tours on this page. You can sign up here . Instructions Choose a book or series to blog about. Click inside the text box (for that tour). It will automatically select all the text needed. Copy the text. (Ctrl-C for PC) The blog post is now saved in your clipboard. Simply paste (ctrl-V) it into your HTML editor of your blog host. Once a post is live, submit it for reward points here . Rinse and repeat. The tours listed here do not have a finish date , so if you haven't posted one, you are more than welcome to post it at any time. You will only get credit for the tour one time (unless otherwise indicated in an email). The most recent tours are at the top. Click the book covers to bring up the appropriate Amazon page. Cover Book Title Reward Points Blog Code The Apple Grove Gang Series by Hamilton C. Burger 10 points <!--Click Her