Reader News for October 6, 2013

A couple of new books from blogger buddies this time around! Have some news you want to share? Drop me a line!

The Maze of Mist, the latest fantasy novel from A.J. Walker, is for sale in the Kindle store. For the first month he's priced it at only $3.99, and it's free for Prime members.

Here's the blurb:

When the heir to the throne is treated as an outcast, he has to prove himself before he can rule.

Prince Metis Itxaron is the son of a human father and a goblin mother. As heir to the Twin Thrones, he will some day bear the responsibility of ruling two peoples while protecting the kingdom from the vicious armies of the Bandit Queen and the Elves of the Great Forest.

Instead he spends his time getting drunk and sleeping with the few women willing to look beyond his mixed heritage.

In a desperate attempt to make a man out of him, his parents send him on a secret diplomatic mission to prepare for an upcoming war. What they don't expect is that he will come upon visitors from an unknown land beyond the Sea of Mist, a strange labyrinth of fog that has baffled navigators for all of recorded history.

Metis sees a visit to these new lands as an opportunity to escape his responsibilities and prove himself on his own terms.

Then he discovers that representatives from his kingdom's enemies are coming along for the voyage. . .

This is the second book in the Chronicles of the House of Itxaron series. The first volume is Roots Run Deep. While set in the same world, each title is a standalone novel.

Missouri historian Larry Wood also has a new book out. Murder and Mayhem in Missouri tells the story of some of Missouri's toughest outlaws.

Desperadoes like Frank and Jesse James earned Missouri the nickname of the "Outlaw State" after the Civil War, and that reputation followed the region into the Prohibition era through the feverish criminal activity of Bonnie and Clyde, the Barkers and Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd.

Duck into the Slicker War of the 1840s, a vigilante movement that devolved into a lingering feud in which the two sides sometimes meted out whippings, called slickings, on each other. Or witness the Kansas City Massacre of 1933, a shootout between law enforcement officers and criminal gang members who were trying to free Frank Nash, a notorious gang leader being escorted to federal prison.

Book Review: Nanok and the Tower of Sorrows by Jack Badelaire

Nanok and The Tower of Sorrows by Jack Badelaire
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This novella is by Jack Badelaire, better known for his excellent Commando series of war novels. Here the author takes on a different subject--old school pulp fantasy in the vein of Robert E. Howard.

There are far, far too many Conan pastiches circulating these days, but fortunately Badelaire takes a lighthearted approach. There are lots of jokes and pratfalls mixed in with Badelaire's signature fight scenes.

I especially enjoyed all the references to fantasy fiction and movies. In his adventures Nanok even meets The Beastmaster (oh, sorry, The Master of Beasts!), one of the more embarrassing fantasy films of our youth. There could have been more, though. What? No reference to The Barbarians or Willow? I would have loved seeing mighty-thewed Nanok cleaving Willow's head in with his massive sword.

Anyway, this is a fun little read, nothing Earth shattering, nothing you'll be tempted to read again, but an amusing way to spend an hour or so. If you want something meatier, check out his Commando books. Those are more serious, and seriously good.


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Book Review: COMMANDO OPERATION ARROWHEAD

COMMANDO: Operation Arrowhead by Jack Badelaire
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Jack Badelaire loves the men's adventure fiction of the 70s and 80s. He has a blog and an ezine both dedicated to the genre. Now he's turned his hand to writing and the influence is obvious.

Commando: Operation Arrowhead reads like those cheap potboilers I read in high school back in the day, and I don't mean that in a bad way at all. There's action aplenty as a team Commandos blasts their way through hordes of Germans in occupied France. It's good versus evil with lots of gunfights, explosions, and blood spraying everywhere.

Badelaire's fight scenes are awesome. He's also good at describing the political and strategic situation of the early war years and the rivalries, petty and no-so-petty, that trouble any group of men in a high-stress situation.

I could have used some more fleshing out of the characters. This style of fiction has always relied a bit more on archetypes than deep characterization. Since this is the first in a series, I suspect we'll be getting into the characters' heads a bit more in later volumes. Well, at least those who survive. Badeliare isn't afraid of killing off characters.

People who aren't World War Two buffs might have a bit of trouble with some of the equipment descriptions. Being a Civil War and Colonial war buff myself, my knowledge of weaponry drops significantly after the invention of smokeless powder. Bren gun and the MP-38? I got you. The MAS-36? I had to look that one up!

All in all, a damn good read for anyone who likes fast-paced adventure fiction and wants to Nazis get blown away in large numbers. I predict Jack Badelaire is going to make a major name for himself in this reemerging genre.

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New indie titles coming out thick and fast!

A couple of my blogger buddies have come out with books lately. First off, occasional guest blogger A.J. Walker over at the Genre Author blog has come out with At the Gates, Book Two of his timeless Empire series. He's offering it at an introductory price of $2.99 and has temporarily slashed the price of Book one, Hard Winter, to 99 cents! A.J. sent over a blurb for At the Gates.

In the thirtieth year of my life, I find I am a soldier in two armies about to go to war with each other, and already at war with a third.

We march across an endless plain, we soldiers of the Baron, loyal human subjects of the Dragonkin and their Timeless Empire. Loyal, I say, but only in name. For within that great army intent on crushing the rebellious cities of Haadsted and Ryksierde marches another army, a secret army, the army to which I owe my true allegiance.

Over at Post-Modern Pulps, Jack Badelaire has published Commando: Operation Arrowhead under his own PMP imprint. Jack loves all the classic men's adventure books from the Seventies and Eighties and judging from the blurb below, they certainly inspire him!

Corporal Thomas Lynch won fame at the Battle of Arras, and felt the shame of defeat at Dunkirk. A year later, as a member of Britain's elite No. 3 Commando, Lynch wants nothing more than to go back over the Channel and kick open Hitler's Fortress Europe, guns blazing.

Introduced by his commanding officer to the enigmatic Lord Pembroke, Lynch is offered a chance to be part of a special team of hand-picked Commandos. Their assignment: sneak into occupied France and ally with the French partisans to fight back against the Nazis.

Lynch readily accepts the challenge, but when the mission goes awry from the very beginning, and the motives of the partisan leader become suspect, the Commandos begin to wonder about their role in the mission: trusted allies with the partisans, or worms dangling as bait for a hungry fish?

COMMANDO: Operation Arrowhead is a military action - adventure novel written in the spirit of classic war movies such as The Guns of Navarone, The Dirty Dozen, and Where Eagles Dare, mixed with military adventure fiction such as Len Levinson’s The Sergeant and The Rat Bastards series.

Do you have a publication you'd like to appear on Civil War Horror? Drop me a line! All I ask is that it is at least vaguely associated with the subject of this blog. Military fantasy, local history, Westerns, horror novels. . .sure! Erotica, coloring books, investment guides. . .sorry, not my readership.

Author Interview: fantasy novelist A.J. Walker

I've decided to take a note from uber-blogger Alex Cavanaugh and announce new releases from my followers. If you've been reading my blogs for a while, you'll recognize the name of writer and medievalist A.J. Walker. I've done guest posts for him on such subjects as medieval weapons in the Civil War. He's returned the favor by writing a very popular guest post on leather armor. Now he has a fantasy novel out called Hard Winter and he's joined us to talk about it.


Hi A.J.! First, give us the skinny on Hard Winter.

Hi Sean! Thanks for having me. Hard Winter is the first book in the Timeless Empire series of military fantasy novels. The best summary I can give you is the blurb.

His past has been erased, his future is uncertain, but he knows one thing—in the coming revolution he must choose which friend to support and which to betray.

The Dragonkin have ruled the human race for centuries, but now the eastern territories have broken away and a blight has left thousands of humans destitute. Assassinations and riots plague the cities.

While the empire’s future is in peril, one man struggles to reclaim his past. Recorro lost his wife to the Gatherers, shadowy beings that prowl the streets on moonless nights. Those who witness their passing are forever changed. Recorro can remember nothing about his wife beyond the fact that she existed.

Aimless and struggling with despair, Recorro joins the army gathering to crush the rebels. What he discovers there may answer all his questions, and topple the empire he swore to uphold.


Military fantasy? Tell us more about that subgenre.

Military fantasy isn't a term that's used much, although many books fit into the category. One of my main influences is Glen Cook's Black Company series, especially the grittier early novels where it's a bunch of soldiers just trying to survive. The later books get a bit more elaborate and political. I prefer the common man's view. The same with the Thieves World series. It started out with thieves doing what thieves do, and turned into world-shaking politics. I'm not knocking the later numbers of either series, I just prefer the earlier ones.

Military fantasy is the experience of soldiers in a fantasy setting. Dealing with how magic affects strategy and tactics is a lot of fun and requires some serious thought.

Guest Post: Bestselling author Robert Walker on giving away books

Robert Walker is becoming a familiar name to ebook fans. He has a large number of titles out there and some impressive sales. I have his historical novel Children of Salem on my Kindle and will be starting right after I finish a couple of other novels. (So much to read, so little time). There's been an ongoing debate about ebook pricing. I've posted my views here, and Dean Wesley Smith has posted a lot about this issue. Robert has a different opinion, and it's worth reading whether or not you're a writer. Take it away, Robert!

This is for any and all who are Indie Writers using free and 99c promotions and so often 'under attack' by those who claim we are fools to do so, that we are somehow destroying others in the bargain, etc....etc... Here is my long answer to that:

The 99c book is nothing new - 75 cents for first "Pocket" books and more recently, it began with Amazon.com SHORTS 33c program BEFORE there was any such device as the Kindle reader and no such thing as uploading your own work. With the Shorts, program such greats as Ed Gorman published via electronically submitting work to EDITORS who worked for Amazon.com -- honestly. At the time an unknown fellow name of J.A. (Joe) Konrath went whole-hog in this program, writing short after short involving his main characters from his Whiskey Sour novels, Jacquelyn (Jackie) Daniels. Joe set the pace then as he did later via eReader novels once Amazon DROPPED the shorts program as obsolete, let all the editors go, and made it a simple process to upload your work on your own.

Joe dragged me into the Shorts program - years before Kindle - but as I had little to no interest at the time in doing short stories, I convinced the editor - John Hart, was his name - to allow a serialized version of my Flesh Wars novel. He went for it and each chapter was a separate short. I earned out next to nothing yet I was one of the authors routinely at the top of the list. It gave me exposure alongside Gorman, any number of others like Lawrence Block, and many more. The shorts sold for something stupid like 33 cents a pop. Joe relentlessly put out short after short and grew himself a following, while he was crisscrossing the country in a broken-down Land Rover, dropping in on every bookstore he could find, and chronicling his entire cross-country gambit on his blog.

I had neither the time, money, nor inclination to leave my family alone for months to play shotgun to Joe's "crazy" cross-country gambit, but I sure was learning a helluva lot from watching him and I was dragged into the Kindle option kickkkkkin' and screammin it would not work for me, dragged in by Joe Konrath who has as big a heart as they come. I am not he only one he has inspired to go Kindle. His Newbie's Guide to Publishing blog has inspired hundreds if not thousands to write, write, write first, to hone the craft, and to place up as many titles both short and long on one's dashboard.

Just today, I got a note in response to my telling folks at KindleKorner of my Free titles up now. She wrote back that she not only took the freebies but while there, she picked up 3 of my Instinct Titles -- all three are 2.99. She did so as she is a huge fan of the M.E. serial killer chase down novels of Patricia Cornwell and my Instinct books are in the same vein....

My saintly dear old mom is 85 now and she understands that to give is to receive. The limited time offers of Free and 99c titles (I have 21 99c titles at the moment, any of which I can boost up at any time) --these 'giveaways' have netted after THREE years of putting up Kindle titles sales that have gone from paltry hundreds in dollars to now my last paycheck (which will go entirely to the IRS by the way) six thousand for my last six weeks sales.

Does it help to have a brand name? Sure it does, but I am by no means a Tess Gerritsen or a Stephen King or even an Ed Gorman in terms of name recognition and stature; however, I have worked diligently as has Joe Konrath to MAKE the name known. I even posted on Ben Afleck playing the part of Robert Walker in the film The Company Men on Facebook just to get that fact out there and of course to raise awareness for this fine movie. No one knows what comes of making a connect with readers on Twitter, Facebook, KindleKorner, etc., etc. or HERE. Someone else sees Anonymous and you begin debating the relative merits of Edward DeVere as Shakespeare and how much truth and leaps of faith are in the film and viola, debate over, but your books have a new visitor to your Kindle Shelf.

I urge ye one and all to locate my now Enormous Thread at KDP Community Forums found on your kindle dashboard under Voice of the Author/Publisher - under which is "What Mioves Kindle Bks. off theShelf" - start with the first few pages. Ignore the fact that there are close on to 300,000 views there and something crazy like 300 pages over now Two Threads. Just open on the first pages and read up/study up!

With millions and millions of iPad and Kindle readers, there is room for any and all writers.

Interview with horror author Paul Parducci

Today my guest is horror writer and actor Paul Parducci. He's appeared on shows like NYPD Blue, Desperate Housewives, and Murphy Brown and starred in films like A Gun, A Car, A Blonde with Billy Bob Thornton. He lives in the Los Angeles area with his wife, son, and an old one-toothed dog named Shadow. You can see his full film and TV credits at his IMDB page. Also check out his blog.

You are an actor as well as a writer. Do you do any of the other arts?
I am also a filmmaker. I’ve directed two feature films and dozens of shorts and TV projects.

Has your acting experience affected the way you write?

I'd imagine it might have a special influence on dialog. I’d like to think that my work as an actor has given me an insight into how words feel on the tongue. For me the characters lead the story and what they say to themselves and others has to always pass the word-feel test.

You've written for television and film. How different is that process from writing traditional prose?
TV and Film writing outside of dialog is really blue print work. Prose for me is all about the inside- the thought process of the character. When it comes to storytelling prose is the king of the inside realm.

Why did you decide to publish via Kindle rather than traditionally?
I’ve been using a Kindle for over two years now and it has become my favorite way to consume written content- (and I am not alone.) The Kindle has changed everything and I’m just going with the flow.

What are you writing now?
My second novel- it’s a horror story that takes place in the High Sierras of California. Nuff said- I’ve learned from bitter experience that if you tell too much of a story before it’s finished you bleed out all the energy.

Parducci's current novel is has the intriguing title Wet Linda: A Novel of Liquid Horror.

A self-hating eighteen year-old moves into a sterile California suburb and her life becomes a lung-filling nightmare as she comes under the control of something very evil met at the community pool. Many Helger has not fit in anywhere her entire life.  At eighteen, she is an innocent floundering in the brutal social environment of the upscale Southern California world she is trapped in.

When she moves with her family to a new home for her senior year, she makes a decision to take drastic actions in order to fit in. In an attempt to lose weight and be accepted by her attractive peers Mandy begins swimming at a mysteriously unused community pool. It is there at the pool day after day that Mandy learns the pool's dark past and becomes the handmaid of its unspeakably evil resident.

Catch Fire! blog tour on now

I'm a little late with this one, but I wanted to mention that blogger and science fiction author Alex Cavanaugh is on a virtual book tour at the moment. He's a regular reader of this blog and has an awesome blog of his own. His new book CassaFire has just come out. Here's some info about it:


CassaStar was just the beginning…

The Vindicarn War is a distant memory and Byron’s days of piloting Cosbolt fighters are over. He has kept the promise he made to his fallen mentor and friend - to probe space on an exploration vessel. Shuttle work is dull, but it’s a free and solitary existence. The senior officer is content with his life aboard the Rennather.

The detection of alien ruins sends the exploration ship to the distant planet of Tgren. If their scientists can decipher the language, they can unlock the secrets of this device. Is it a key to the Tgren’s civilization or a weapon of unimaginable power? Tensions mount as their new allies are suspicious of the Cassan’s technology and strange mental abilities.

To complicate matters, the Tgrens are showing signs of mental powers themselves; the strongest of which belongs to a pilot named Athee, a woman whose skills rival Byron’s unique abilities. Forced to train her mind and further develop her flying aptitude, he finds his patience strained. Add a reluctant friendship with a young scientist, and he feels invaded on every level. All Byron wanted was his privacy…

Available today!

Science fiction - space opera/adventure

Print ISBN 978-0-9827139-4-5, $15.95, 6x9 Trade paperback, 240 pages

EBook ISBN 978-0-9827139-6-9, $4.99, available in all formats

CassaFire is the sequel to Cavanaugh’s first book, CassaStar, an Amazon Top Ten Best Seller:

“…calls to mind the youthful focus of Robert Heinlein’s early military sf, as well as the excitement of space opera epitomized by the many Star Wars novels. Fast-paced military action and a youthful protagonist make this a good choice for both young adult and adult fans of space wars.” - Library Journal

Barnes and Noble

Amazon

Amazon Kindle

Woohoo! My short story collection got a one-star review!

My short story collection The Night the Nazis Came to Dinner, and other dark tales has received a one-star review on Amazon UK! Under the title "Can't believe I paid for this" the reviewer said:

"The four stories are not badly written. However, I reached the same conclusion on each -"So what". I didn't find any of them interesting; one I found difficult to understand.The first story about the Nazis, the reason I bought the book, offered all sorts of ideas in my mind but the story was flat and too short. The title was the best bit of the story. The other stories also promise more than they deliver.

"The stories are not badly written.

"I cannot think of one reason why I would recommend anyone to read these stories. They must have some redeeming features so let's hope somebody else reviews them and finds something I missed completely"

So, um, why am I celebrating a bad review? Because I totally don't care. After twelve years as a professional writer and the same number of books published, I finally looked at a bad review, shrugged, and got back to work. It's one guy's opinion and he has a right to it, even if he doesn't express very clearly what he didn't like about the stories. So he felt cheated out of 77 pence. So what? It won't kill my career, it doesn't mean I'm a bad writer, and it probably won't even hurt my sales.

As writers we need to stop worrying about what other people think. Oh yes, easier said than done, and some people can still get under my skin, but if we're to survive in this literary jungle we have to learn to slough off rejection and negativity and keep on writing. So thanks, anonymous reviewer, you just marked a milestone in my writing career!

In other news my Civil War novel A Fine Likeness is still on sale for $2.99 and will remain so until the day after Valentine's Day, because I love my readers.

Guest blogging with Cynthia Hope Clark

Today I'm guest blogging over at Cynthia Hope Clark's blog on the subject of "Self and traditional publishing: why doing both can be good for your career". Pop on over at check it out!

Hope will have her first novel published next month and she'll be over here talking about it after it's released.

My short story collection is out!

My short story collection, The Night the Nazis came to Dinner, and other dark tales, is out now as an ebook.

A spectral dinner party goes horribly wrong. . .
An immortal warrior hopes a final battle will set him free. . .
A big-game hunter preys on endangered species to supply an illicit restaurant. . .
A new technology soothes First World guilt. . .

Here are four dark tales that straddle the boundary between reality and speculation. You better hope they don’t come true. 

These genre-bending tales mix fantasy, science fiction, horror, and a dose of satire. I've priced it at 99 cents in order to entire readers, and hopefully get them to move on and buy my Civil War novel. A special thanks goes to Dale Roberts, author of Irrefutable, for doing the excellent cover art.

The Night the Nazis came to Dinner is available at Amazon, Amazon UK, and all other Amazon outlets. Coming soon to Smashwords too!

Interview with the Missouri Writers Guild

Fellow Missouri author Dianna Graveman has published an interview I did for the Missouri Writers Guild's newsletter. I talk about my travel and history writing. I'll be back on her blog this Thursday talking about why I picked Missouri as the setting for my Civil War novel A Fine Likeness. Check my page of Online Appearances for a complete and constantly updating schedule for my virtual book tour.

To learn more about Dianna, check out this interview I did with her about her local history writing and research.

Starting my virtual book tour for A Fine Likeness

Now that my Civil War novel A Fine Likeness is out, I'm starting a virtual book tour. My first stop was yesterday over at fellow author and medievalist A.J. Walker's blog. I blogged about Medieval Weapons in the American Civil War.

I've created a page on this blog for my online appearances. I already have several stops scheduled on my virtual book tour and more are on the way, so check back often as I hop around the web blogging about writing, horror fiction, the civil War, Missouri history, Jesse James, and more!

A Fine Likeness is out now!!!

My Civil War horror novel A Fine Likeness is finally out! It's available at Amazon, Amazon UK, Amazon DE, and Amazon FR. In the next couple of days it will become available at Barnes & Noble and Smashwords. A print edition will appear in a couple of weeks.

Thank you all for your encouragement and for following this blog. I'll be hosting some giveaways in coming days as well as some guest posts and the usual blogging about the American Civil War west of the Mississippi. For those of you unfamiliar with my novel, the blurb is below:

A Confederate guerrilla and a Union captain discover there’s something more dangerous in the woods than each other.

Jimmy Rawlins is a teenaged bushwhacker who leads his friends on ambushes of Union patrols. They join infamous guerrilla leader Bloody Bill Anderson on a raid through Missouri, but Jimmy questions his commitment to the Cause when he discovers this madman plans to sacrifice a Union prisoner in a hellish ritual to raise the Confederate dead.

Richard Addison is an aging captain of a lackluster Union militia. Depressed over his son’s death in battle, a glimpse of Jimmy changes his life. Jimmy and his son look so much alike that Addison becomes obsessed with saving him from Bloody Bill. Captain Addison must wreck his reputation to win this war within a war, while Jimmy must decide whether to betray the Confederacy to stop the evil arising in the woods of Missouri.

Shrunken heads and preserved human flesh: mixing travel and horror

I've realized that I've been overlooking the horror genre on this blog. My Civil War novel A Fine Likeness is technically historical horror, although it's also been called paranormal, action/adventure, even mystery. It being between genres is one of the reasons I decided to self-publish with Kindle Direct Publishing. Now that we're in the final days leading up to its release, I'll be mixing horror in with my history posts.

As most of you know, part of my writing career is travel writing. I've seen some things that wouldn't look out of place in a horror novel, and so of course I've written about them. For example, I did an article on Five Places to See Shrunken Heads. More recently I examined the Preserved Human Flesh at Amsterdam's Tattoo Museum. When I was conducted historical research in Rome earlier this year, I took time out to write a whole series titled Vacation with the Dead: Exploring Rome's Sinister Side.

So there you go, some horror along with the history! There will be more to come. If you're more into the days of black powder and pistoleros, check out the news about my latest book project over on my personal/writing blog.


Photo courtesy Joe Mabel.

Civil War Photo Friday: hardtack

Hardtack was one of the staples in the diet of both armies in the Civil War. It was supposed to last longer than regular bread and be more portable. Maybe it was, but that didn't stop soldiers from complaining about it. They had various names for it, from "tooth breakers" to "sheet metal crackers" to "worm castles." Judging from that last one I'm thinking it wasn't so long-lasting after all.

Hardtack was rarely eaten straight. The men dunked it in any liquid available in order to soften it up. Mixed with salt pork and dried vegetables, the other two army staples, it would make a reasonably balanced but unsavory meal.

Early in my Civil War novel A Fine Likeness, the protagonist and his band of bushwhackers ambush a Union supply wagon. Once they send the soldiers running, they steal a barrel of gunpowder but leave the salt pork and hard tack. They're being fed by local secessionists so they see no reason to fill up their stomachs with bad army food when a home-cooked meal is waiting for them!

This Wikimedia Commons image shows some hard tack preserved in the Wentworth Museum in Pensacola, Florida. If you want to try making your own hardtack, check out this hardtack recipe.

Welcome all new followers!

Participating in the Pay it Forward blogfest was lots of fun. I got a bunch of new followers and found some cool blogs I'd never heard of. It also turns out that one of the bloggers I picked, David over at Guerrilla Explorer, has just published his novel, a thriller filled with conspiracies and cryptids. So hit the link and check it out.

In a further attempt to make this blog more visible, I'm registering with Technorati, which explains the claim code that follows. T44E5PJRF3PX

That means nothing to my readers. Back with some more Civil War tomorrow!

Pay it forward blogfest: my three picks

Today I'm skipping my usual Civil War Photo Friday to participate in the Pay it Forward Blogfest. We're all supposed to pick three blogs that deserve more attention. So here we go. . .

A daily dose of the Civil War
The Civil War Daily Gazette tells you all the latest news, 150 years after it happened. That's right, this tireless blogger is going the distance and posting every day until 1865, um, I mean 2015. I found this blog a couple of months ago and quickly got addicted. It's one of the few blogs I visit daily.

Grumpy writer tells all
Dean Wesley Smith may already be known to you. He is a hardworking midlister like yours truly and has decided to mix traditional publishing with self-publishing via Kindle. Because he's chosen a similar career path, I read his regular rants about the publishing industry and where it's headed. I do find him overly negative about publishers and agents and don't agree with his analysis all the time. That's a good thing. There would be no point in reading him if I always agreed with him!

Lost Treasure! Mysteries of History! Cryptids! Conspiracies!
Guerrilla Explorer takes on the shadowy areas of the world and history. Did Hitler fake his death? Probably not, but there's some intriguing evidence that makes this less silly than it sounds. I'm not convinced those Russian scientists will find anything on their Yeti hunt though. Oh, and the post on the Student Loan Conspiracy was downright depressing.

Head on over to these blogs and see if you like them. If you do, give them some love and leave a comment. tell them I sent you!

Studying the page proofs for A Fine Likeness

The ebook design company 52 Novels has sent me the page proofs for A Fine Likeness. I haven't looked through the whole thing yet but so far I'm very satisfied with the result. Since my cover is simple two-tone with a black and white photo, it transferred to black and white very well. And now that the new color Kindle is out, readers will be able to see my brother-in-law's design in all its glory.

While I still have a fair amount of close examination to go through before I give the final thumbs up, it looks like my novel is one step closer to completion!

I chose 52 Novels on the recommendation of several fellow midlisters and because their rates are reasonable. I looked at the programming and formatting end of the operation and figured that with a couple of days of hair pulling I could do it myself, but decided that a little extra work for Gadling would more than cover the cost. Lots of Kindle and Smashwords authors are formatting their own ebooks. For me, though, it made financial sense to get someone else to do it.

What does it take to be a successful author on Amazon?

Over at the Kindle Direct Publishing Forum I've been involved in a discussion of what it takes to be a successful author on Amazon. Marti Talbott provided this concise list of good advice. While the list could go on for a lot longer, this is certainly a good start. Thanks to Marti for permission to repost this.

1. A summary/blurb/description that is exciting enough to sell the book
2. A well written book people will tell others about.
3. Fairly decent cover art.
4. Using your real name in your promotions, or at least the same name over and over again. Name recognition is very important. If you have a common name, try a nick name.
5. Networking works. Golden promotion is when someone else recommends your book to others.
6. Polish it, get an editor, even if you think you have done your best. A bad first review is very hard to overcome.
7. Read, read, read everything you can on publishing, both in Kindle and other versions.
8. Never miss a chance to promote