Sandy Nathan's Blog, page 8
December 20, 2011
Happy Holidays––and All the News Worth Sharing. I’ve got two new Books, an International Rights Agent; Numenon is a Book Club Selection; New Book Awards. An Invitation and a gift.
Then my news. And I do have a lot of it. This is the text of my holiday newsletter:
GETTING TO KNOW YOU
I was putting this newsletter together and realized that, in all probability, we don’t know each other. I’m close to some of you–my friends and family. Others I know a little bit–neighbors and fans. The rest of you probably have a very sketchy connection with me, based on typing an email address into a box.
For many of you, this newsletter may seem like another pitch from one of the bazillion authors trying to get you to buy their books.
That isn’t what I’m about. Let’s clear that up right now. Please take a moment and listen to my most recent radio interview, linked below.
SANDY NATHAN SPEAKS: DEPTH INSIGHTS RADIO SHOW!
My editor always says, “Show me, don’t tell me.” The Depth Insights interview linked above is the best “show and tell” of who I am, where my writing comes from, and what I’m about that I’ve produced to date.
I invite you to take a few moments to listen to the interview.
I invite you to become my friend.
Sandy Nathan
MORE ABOUT THE DEPTH PSYCHOLOGY ALLIANCE BOOK CLUB!
I’ve been invited to be the author of the month for the Depth Psychology Alliance Book Club in January 2012. I made the interview linked above for the Alliance’s radio show. It offers a taste of what I’m about and an intro to what I’ll be discussing.
The book club is part of the Depth Psychology Alliance, an on-line, global gathering place for those interested in the field of depth psychology.
Depth Insights Book Club
Their motto is, “Seeing the World with Soul.” Depth Psychology explores the highest and deepest aspects of humanity. And the richest, may I add. When I was a graduate student in counseling, these areas of study ignited my being.
I WOULD LOVE IT IF YOU JOINED ME FOR THE BOOK CLUB IN JANUARY!
Membership in the Alliance is FREE and so is the new book club. Join the Alliance through the link above and sign up for the book club. You don’t have to be a therapist or professor. All you need to join is an interest in Depth Psychology. Email me for more details. The group will be reading my book, Numenon: A Tale of Mysticism & Money.
Click Image to Buy Numenon
The link will take you to Numenon’s page on the Depth Psychology Alliance’s web site. Check it out. They have an incredible web site. I love their bee icon.
I’m looking forward to finding out how the club members see Will Duane, my brilliant, tortured hero.
Let the games begin! I’m excited
THE REALLY BIG NEWS: I’VE GOT TWO NEW BOOKS COMING OUT IN EARLY 2012! The Tales from Earth’s End Series continues with sequels to The Angel & the Brown-Eyed Boy.
Most people who read The Angel & the Brown-eyed Boy ask me, “Where’s the sequel? I’ve got to know what happens next!”
Lady Grace Is what happens next. Thousands of years have passed since the end of The Angel. Radiation levels are safe at last. A few survivors straggle back to the Piermont estate in Connecticut.
Click to go to Tales from Earth’s End
What do they find? You won’t believe it.
Lady Grace is a thriller and sci-fi, a fantasy like you can’t imagine. And a tender love story. With visitors from another time and place. It’s Book Two of the Tales from Earth’s End Series.
Sam & Emily: A Romance from the Underground, the third book in the Tales from Earth’s End Series, will be launched
shortly after Lady Grace. Sam & Emily is a love story between two characters introduced in The Angel. Sam & Emily is about a passion that creates joy and ecstasy, as well as deepest anguish. It’s a passion that lasts a lifetime. And it’s not your ordinary romance.
Click for Tales from Earth’s End Blog
Here’s a blog article about the rules of romance and how I break them.
The romance industry has rules about how a romance must go. What those involved must be like. And the mandatory happy ending. I don’t believe in mandatory happy endings. Is that how life is? Always happy at the end? I’m not saying my book’s a tragedy, but . . . a guaranteed happy ending? You’ll have to read Sam & Emily to see what I mean. Unlike the sex in most romances, the intimacy in Sam & Emily isn’t particularly graphic, certainly relative to what I’ve seen in samples of other people’s work offered on the social media. My husband described it as “inspiring.”
The two new volumes in the Tales from Earth’s End Series
are poised for release. They’re at my designer’s being polished. We had hoped to get them out for the 2011 holidays–but that was not to be. So I’ll send another newsletter around when they come out.
Or watch the Tales blog, or my website. Or my Facebook Author page. “Like” me, you’ll find out when the new books are released right away.
I DID TELL YOU THAT I PUT OUT TWO NEW BOOKS IN JANUARY OF 2011, DIDN’T I?
I’ve been working so hard that my publicity has been a little sketchy. I might have forgotten to tell you about The Angel & the Brown-eyed Boy and Tecolote: The Little Horse That Could.
The first book, The Angel & the Brown-eyed Boy takes place on the eve of nuclear Armageddon in the late 22nd century––or thereabouts. The United States has degenerated into a police state. Two people carry the keys to survival: Jeremy Edgarton, a 16-year-old, tech genius and revolutionary;
Buy The Angel on Amazon (Kindle
and Eliana, the angelic, off-world traveler sent to Earth on a mission to prevent her planet’s demise. The Angel is a sci-fi thriller set in a 1984-like setting. It’s the first book of the Tales from Earth’s End Series.
The Angel & the Brown-eyed Boy won four national awards in 2011, taking the Gold Medal in Visionary Fiction at the IPPYs, the largest and oldest contest for independent presses. It also won the Visionary Fiction category in the 2011 Indie Excellence Awards, and New Age (winner) and Sci-fi/Fantasy (finalist) in the Best Books of 2011 (USA Book News). A good bet if you like any of those categories.
The other book I released in January 2100 is Tecolote: The Little Horse That Could is the true story of a premature baby horse born on our ranch. Tecolote was not expected to live––yet he did.
Buy Tecolote on Amazon
This book is a child’s book–44 pages–that can be enjoyed by adults. It’s a sweet lovely tale. Tecolote is an Amazon Bestselling book. It’s available on Amazon as a print book and Kindle book.
If you’re interested, I would strongly recommend buying the print book version. The Amazon Kindle version is fine: It has all the pictures and tells the story. It’s only 99 cents. The print version is beautiful, has a color interior and is a great size for children to read: 8″ X 10″.
Tecolote: The Little Horse That Could won five national awards, including the 2011 Silver Nautilus Award, an award given to distinguished books aimed at making the world a better place. It also was a finalist in the 2011 National Indie Excellence Contest in:
Animals/Pets General
Juvenile Non-fiction
LAST, BUT DEFINITELY NOT LEAST IN MY NEWS ROUNDUP: THE MONTSE CORTAZAR LITERARY AGENCY IS MY EXCLUSIVE REPRESENTATIVE FOR THE INTERNATIONAL RIGHTS TO MY BOOKS.
It’s been a banner year for me, with new books and literary awards. To cap it off, I’ve signed with the Montse Cortazar Literary Agency for exclusive
representation of the international rights to my books. I was honored to be chosen by Montse. When Montse wrote to accept me she said, “My main motivation as a literary agent is to support those authors and publishers who work for the collective awareness, and I truly feel your work is really special and goes in that direction.” Yep. That’s why I write. I’m looking forward to what the future brings. Perhaps The Angel, Tecolote, Numenon and all the rest will be read worldwide!Click the link to find out more about the Montse Cortazar Literary Agency.
Happy holidays, once again. We offer those of you who have eBook readers a special gift in the coupon below.
(If you don’t have an eReader, you can buy an inscribed, autographed hardback first edition of my Numenon: A Tale of Mysticism & Money for $9.50 plus shipping (and sales tax if you live in CA). It’s a $24.95 retail value. Click here to buy. Please specify what inscription you’d like. Contact Barry Nathan for quantity orders.)
All the best,
Barry & Sandy Nathan
Vilasa Press
100%
OFF!
As a special holiday gift, I’m giving you the eBook of Numenon for free! It’s usually $2.99 on Smashwords. To claim your gift, go to Smashwords.com, and the Numenon page. (Click to go to that page.) Enter the coupon LV94U on checkout. You should be able to download pretty near any kind of eBook from Smashwords. Please share this offer with your friends and family members. It’s OK with me if the offer goes viral!
Offer Expires: Enter Expiration Date January 19, 2012
Forward this email
Happy Holidays––and All the News Worth Sharing. I've got two new Books, an International Rights Agent; Numenon is a Book Club Selection; New Book Awards. An Invitation and a gift.
Then my news. And I do have a lot of it. This is the text of my holiday newsletter:
GETTING TO KNOW YOU
I was putting this newsletter together and realized that, in all probability, we don't know each other. I'm close to some of you–my friends and family. Others I know a little bit–neighbors and fans. The rest of you probably have a very sketchy connection with me, based on typing an email address into a box.
For many of you, this newsletter may seem like another pitch from one of the bazillion authors trying to get you to buy their books.
That isn't what I'm about. Let's clear that up right now. Please take a moment and listen to my most recent radio interview, linked below.
SANDY NATHAN SPEAKS: DEPTH INSIGHTS RADIO SHOW!
My editor always says, "Show me, don't tell me." The Depth Insights interview linked above is the best "show and tell" of who I am, where my writing comes from, and what I'm about that I've produced to date.
I invite you to take a few moments to listen to the interview.
I invite you to become my friend.
Sandy Nathan
MORE ABOUT THE DEPTH PSYCHOLOGY ALLIANCE BOOK CLUB!
I've been invited to be the author of the month for the Depth Psychology Alliance Book Club in January 2012. I made the interview linked above for the Alliance's radio show. It offers a taste of what I'm about and an intro to what I'll be discussing.
The book club is part of the Depth Psychology Alliance, an on-line, global gathering place for those interested in the field of depth psychology.
Depth Insights Book Club
Their motto is, "Seeing the World with Soul." Depth Psychology explores the highest and deepest aspects of humanity. And the richest, may I add. When I was a graduate student in counseling, these areas of study ignited my being.
I WOULD LOVE IT IF YOU JOINED ME FOR THE BOOK CLUB IN JANUARY!
Membership in the Alliance is FREE and so is the new book club. Join the Alliance through the link above and sign up for the book club. You don't have to be a therapist or professor. All you need to join is an interest in Depth Psychology. Email me for more details. The group will be reading my book, Numenon: A Tale of Mysticism & Money.
Click Image to Buy Numenon
The link will take you to Numenon's page on the Depth Psychology Alliance's web site. Check it out. They have an incredible web site. I love their bee icon.
I'm looking forward to finding out how the club members see Will Duane, my brilliant, tortured hero.
Let the games begin! I'm excited
THE REALLY BIG NEWS: I'VE GOT TWO NEW BOOKS COMING OUT IN EARLY 2012! The Tales from Earth's End Series continues with sequels to The Angel & the Brown-Eyed Boy.
Most people who read The Angel & the Brown-eyed Boy ask me, "Where's the sequel? I've got to know what happens next!"
Lady Grace Is what happens next. Thousands of years have passed since the end of The Angel. Radiation levels are safe at last. A few survivors straggle back to the Piermont estate in Connecticut.
Click to go to Tales from Earth's End
What do they find? You won't believe it.
Lady Grace is a thriller and sci-fi, a fantasy like you can't imagine. And a tender love story. With visitors from another time and place. It's Book Two of the Tales from Earth's End Series.
Sam & Emily: A Romance from the Underground, the third book in the Tales from Earth's End Series, will be launched
shortly after Lady Grace. Sam & Emily is a love story between two characters introduced in The Angel. Sam & Emily is about a passion that creates joy and ecstasy, as well as deepest anguish. It's a passion that lasts a lifetime. And it's not your ordinary romance.
Click for Tales from Earth's End Blog
Here's a blog article about the rules of romance and how I break them.
The romance industry has rules about how a romance must go. What those involved must be like. And the mandatory happy ending. I don't believe in mandatory happy endings. Is that how life is? Always happy at the end? I'm not saying my book's a tragedy, but . . . a guaranteed happy ending? You'll have to read Sam & Emily to see what I mean. Unlike the sex in most romances, the intimacy in Sam & Emily isn't particularly graphic, certainly relative to what I've seen in samples of other people's work offered on the social media. My husband described it as "inspiring."
The two new volumes in the Tales from Earth's End Series
are poised for release. They're at my designer's being polished. We had hoped to get them out for the 2011 holidays–but that was not to be. So I'll send another newsletter around when they come out.
Or watch the Tales blog, or my website. Or my Facebook Author page. "Like" me, you'll find out when the new books are released right away.
I DID TELL YOU THAT I PUT OUT TWO NEW BOOKS IN JANUARY OF 2011, DIDN'T I?
I've been working so hard that my publicity has been a little sketchy. I might have forgotten to tell you about The Angel & the Brown-eyed Boy and Tecolote: The Little Horse That Could.
The first book, The Angel & the Brown-eyed Boy takes place on the eve of nuclear Armageddon in the late 22nd century––or thereabouts. The United States has degenerated into a police state. Two people carry the keys to survival: Jeremy Edgarton, a 16-year-old, tech genius and revolutionary;
Buy The Angel on Amazon (Kindle
and Eliana, the angelic, off-world traveler sent to Earth on a mission to prevent her planet's demise. The Angel is a sci-fi thriller set in a 1984-like setting. It's the first book of the Tales from Earth's End Series.
The Angel & the Brown-eyed Boy won four national awards in 2011, taking the Gold Medal in Visionary Fiction at the IPPYs, the largest and oldest contest for independent presses. It also won the Visionary Fiction category in the 2011 Indie Excellence Awards, and New Age (winner) and Sci-fi/Fantasy (finalist) in the Best Books of 2011 (USA Book News). A good bet if you like any of those categories.
The other book I released in January 2100 is Tecolote: The Little Horse That Could is the true story of a premature baby horse born on our ranch. Tecolote was not expected to live––yet he did.
Buy Tecolote on Amazon
This book is a child's book–44 pages–that can be enjoyed by adults. It's a sweet lovely tale. Tecolote is an Amazon Bestselling book. It's available on Amazon as a print book and Kindle book.
If you're interested, I would strongly recommend buying the print book version. The Amazon Kindle version is fine: It has all the pictures and tells the story. It's only 99 cents. The print version is beautiful, has a color interior and is a great size for children to read: 8″ X 10″.
Tecolote: The Little Horse That Could won five national awards, including the 2011 Silver Nautilus Award, an award given to distinguished books aimed at making the world a better place. It also was a finalist in the 2011 National Indie Excellence Contest in:
Animals/Pets General
Juvenile Non-fiction
LAST, BUT DEFINITELY NOT LEAST IN MY NEWS ROUNDUP: THE MONTSE CORTAZAR LITERARY AGENCY IS MY EXCLUSIVE REPRESENTATIVE FOR THE INTERNATIONAL RIGHTS TO MY BOOKS.
It's been a banner year for me, with new books and literary awards. To cap it off, I've signed with the Montse Cortazar Literary Agency for exclusive
representation of the international rights to my books. I was honored to be chosen by Montse. When Montse wrote to accept me she said, "My main motivation as a literary agent is to support those authors and publishers who work for the collective awareness, and I truly feel your work is really special and goes in that direction." Yep. That's why I write. I'm looking forward to what the future brings. Perhaps The Angel, Tecolote, Numenon and all the rest will be read worldwide!Click the link to find out more about the Montse Cortazar Literary Agency.
Happy holidays, once again. We offer those of you who have eBook readers a special gift in the coupon below.
(If you don't have an eReader, you can buy an inscribed, autographed hardback first edition of my Numenon: A Tale of Mysticism & Money for $9.50 plus shipping (and sales tax if you live in CA). It's a $24.95 retail value. Click here to buy. Please specify what inscription you'd like. Contact Barry Nathan for quantity orders.)
All the best,
Barry & Sandy Nathan
Vilasa Press
100%
OFF!
As a special holiday gift, I'm giving you the eBook of Numenon for free! It's usually $2.99 on Smashwords. To claim your gift, go to Smashwords.com, and the Numenon page. (Click to go to that page.) Enter the coupon LV94U on checkout. You should be able to download pretty near any kind of eBook from Smashwords. Please share this offer with your friends and family members. It's OK with me if the offer goes viral!
Offer Expires: Enter Expiration Date January 19, 2012
Forward this email
December 3, 2011
Your Shelf Life Book Reviews –– Review Policy
I've gotten so many requests from authors to review their books that I need to explain Your Shelf Life's review policy. First off, I am a writer, not a reviewer. Every review I post takes away from my writing time. I'm very careful about what books I read and review. I do reviews for my own pleasure and as a break from writing. I'm unwilling to make my reviewing into an obligation or a burden.
You will see book reviews on Your Shelf Life. These are reviews of books I've found myself or which good friends have recommended. Despite the fact that reviews appear here, this is not a review site. I do not take outside books for review. Please do not contact me asking me to review your book.
I'm sorry to have to refuse your request. I know how hard it is to have your book reviewed in the beginning, but I'm a writer, not a reviewer. My time–like yours–is very valuable. A search of the 'net will reveal many reputable sites that do take books for review. Some may even specialize in your genre. Keep looking for reviewers! You will succeed.
One reviewer that I like very much and recommend heartily is Red Adept Review. They do terrific, thorough, and very professional reviews––free of charge.
Another good review site is Todd A. Fonseca's Review my Book on Amazon.
Still another is Midwest Book Review.
Since you will see reviews on this blog, I'm going to set out my policies. First, as I said, I don't do reviews on request and I do not solicit books to review. Second, if you see my reviews here or on Amazon or elsewhere, you'll notice that they're pretty much all five-star reviews. Does that mean I'm a soft touch? No. I ONLY WRITE REVIEWS FOR BOOKS I REALLY LIKE. So if you see a bunch of very high reviews under my name, that doesn't mean that I only give terrific reviews, it means that I didn't review the bazillion other books I've read. I'm not into "star-wars"––you know, "You gave my book a bad review, so I'll give your book a worse one." (And then I'll organize my friends to slam your book.) This stuff happens. I won't buy into it. Third, I do not charge for the reviews I write, other than accepting a complementary review copy of the book. This is standard industry practice.
My very best wishes to you for success in your writing adventure.
[image error]
Sandy Nathan is the winner of twenty-one national awards, in categories from memoir, to visionary fiction, to children's nonfiction. And more.
Sandy's books are: (Click link to the left for more information. All links below go to Kindle sale pages.)
The Angel & the Brown-eyed Boy
Numenon: A Tale of Mysticism & Money
Tecolote: The Little Horse That Could
Stepping Off the Edge: Learning & Living Spiritual Practice
Two sequels to The Angel & the Brown-eyed Boy are in production with a late (very late) 2011 publication date, or early 2012. If you liked The Angel you'll love Lady Grace and Sam & Emily.
November 27, 2011
5 STARS! Exit Strategy by Colleen Cross | A Your Shelf Life Review
Exit Strategy by Colleen Cross
I had no idea what a forensic accountant was until reading this novel. (Such an accountant tracks down missing money in cases of financial wrong-doing.) I certainly had no idea that a story about a forensic accountant could be exciting, suspenseful, and scary.
Forensic accountant Katarina (Kat) Carter is called in when five billion dollars goes missing from a Canadian corporation mining diamonds. She can't figure out why they called her. She's the least important investigator of her kind in town, and everyone believes the missing CFO did it, anyway. But Kat needs the money, so she takes the job.
An exciting story unfolds. Kat is a more-than-spunky modern heroine who refuses to quit when everything turns against her. Soon, we're learning about the international laundering of dirty diamonds, how pilfered money is moved between nations, drug lords, and big time organized crime. Kat's computer skills are reminiscent of Lisbeth Salander's in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
Exit Strategy is a great, fast-moving tale that will teach you more about forensic accounting than you knew existed–but in an entertaining and easily understood way. I found out that the author, Colleen Cross, is an accountant. That figures: The depth of the research in this book is way more than what you could get by Googling.
I highly recommend Exit Strategy!
Sandy Nathan, owner of Your Shelf Life
Colleen Cross, author of Exist Strategy
Colleen Cross, author of Exit Strategy
Colleen Cross holds an MBA and an accounting designation. Once at work, she soon realized that the world revolves around one thing: money.
"We all need it. It's at the core of almost every crime, whether fraud, theft, or too often, murder. I've always been fascinated by what makes people cheat, steal, lie and murder. Because people like me are going to catch them, sooner or later. That's what forensic accountants do.
"I'm currently at work on Game Theory, book two in the Katerina Carter series. When not writing, I enjoy running, cycling and the great outdoors. I live near Vancouver Canada and also love to travel." Colleen Cross
Read more about Colleen on her blog.
Follow her on Twitter: @colleenxcross
November 19, 2011
Will Duane, Founder and CEO of Numenon. Is He Real?
Will Duane, founder and CEO of Numenon, the largest corporation in history.
This blog post is living proof that you should clean off your desk every couple of years. I did that today––as well I should. Thanksgiving is in a few days and we're having company. Wouldn't want them to see that mess.
I found a transcript of the following interview that I gave three or four years ago when my book Numenon was released. The name of the host wasn't included on the print out––I don't remember who the interview was with. I read the transcript and decided to post it. It's funny. We should read funny things. And laugh.
It also marks the fact that I'm really working on Numenon's sequel, which will be released sometime in 2012. The sequel, Mogollon, is where the rubber hits the road. Will's team reaches the Meeting, the Native retreat they're going to in Numenon. What happens? Everything. Some people have been quite irritated at me for not getting it out sooner. I'm sorry. I had writer's block. Really.
For those who haven't heard of Numenon, it's the story of the richest man in the world meeting a great Native American shaman. Numenon has been out about three years, or maybe closer to four. It had a pretty illustrious ride, winning six national awards its first year. The Kindle version hit # 1 on three Amazon categories of mysticism and stayed there for almost a year. It was well up on Amazon's sales rankings. For a while, my book topped spiritual giants such as St. John of the Cross and St. Teresa of Avila. Only on Amazon could that happen. It's settled back into the pack now, and makes a great read.
I'll begin the transcribed interview now. BTW, Will Duane is the mythical founder and CEO of Numenon, Inc., the largest corporation in history and Numenon's hero. Of a sort.
Q. The character of Will Duane is such a rich combination: powerful and conflicted. He seems more human than many other protagonists. Talk about that.
A. I hate the kind of slick thriller where the hero is an iron man who takes horrendous abuse and keeps on ticking. Oh, maybe he's got a glitch or two, but he's essentially unstoppable and perfect. Reminds me of the guy on the Oscar statue. I want to know the real hero, and I want to feel everything he does.
Q. What do you find the most interesting about Will?
A. That he's as screwed up as he is and manages to function at all. He's really amazing: a tough, ruthless competitor with a horrible family background who's driven himself to become the richest man in the world. And he's cute, too. Will is a 63-year-old babe.
Numenon: A Tale of Mysticism & Money
Q. Numenon–– and I assume all of the Bloodsong series–– has its share of sex. Talk about that.
A. First off, I don't think there's any actual sex in Numenon. A pervasive aura of sexuality, perhaps. Thoughts and memories of sexual situations. No actual sex that I remember. I would remember it. However, even if the book were as brazen as a standard romance novel sold in every drugstore in the world, it's OK. I have permission from my mother to include sex in my writing. She'll tell you about it here. I always try to follow my mom's orders.
Q. Why do you think people would want to read the Bloodsong Series?
A. For the pervasive aura of sexuality, certainly. The for everything else––this is a high-energy textbook about psychology, business, Native American history and spirituality, and tantric yoga. All in one sweet, very readable package.
Q. How close are your characters to real life people?
A. I know people who are as messed up as my characters and who have achieved as much. Not too many, though. My characters have no counterparts in real life. Certainly, my dad, who was a very successful businessman, shows up in parts of Will, as do famous rich people, and others I've read about in psychopathology books. But my characters are truly fictional. I made them up.
Q. How do you research your novels?
A. By living. My books are essentially the footprint of my life. The Bloodsong Series didn't happen until I had a transcendent experience when I was fifty years old, in 1995. It's taken from 1995 until now for the manuscript to become something I could share with people. Much of the research was done before I wrote it. My master's degrees in economics and counseling contributed, as well as working for a business school professor for years, coaching negotiations. My life growing up as the daughter of a builder who created 14,000 houses in the San Francisco Bay Area contributed a great deal to the real feeling of the series. I know high-powered corporate life in Silicon Valley. It's what I lived. The content was in me already, and I also did do the normal research of reading books and combing resources. as needed.
Q. How did you get stared as a writer?
A. They taught me to write in t first or second grace. I've written for a long time. People who got my letters and such told me that I should write a book, but I couldn't do it until I had that experience in 1995. After attending a meditation retreat and being healed there, I was in the shower (yes, showers are very spiritual) when an entire book was injected into my brain in about a second, accompanied with lights and fanfare that special-effects studios would be hard up to duplicate. I've been writing and completing books ever since.
Q. How do you write, when and how many hours per day?
A. I write at a computer. Every day. I spend so much time writing that I have damaged myself physically: I've got bursitis in booth hips and my right arm feels like it's falling off. If I don't write, the words pile up inside and I feel like I'll explode. So I let them out. Taking care of my poor body is my biggest growth challenge these days.
Q. What advice to you have for other writers?
A. Meditate. Live your own life, even if it sucks. Write about it. Meditate. Walk through doors when they open. Write about that. Meditate.
So there it is: Numenon. You can buy it as a Nook or a Kindle for $.99. It's sequel will be out in 2012.
[image error] Sandy Nathan
Winner of twenty-one national awards
Sandy's books are: (Click link to the left for more information. All links below go to Kindle sale pages.)
The Angel & the Brown-eyed Boy
Numenon: A Tale of Mysticism & Money
Tecolote: The Little Horse That Could
Stepping Off the Edge: Learning & Living Spiritual Practice
November 12, 2011
How to Buy a Good, High Quality Self-published or Indie-published Book or eBook
The Angel & the Brown-eyed Boy. This is the cover of a self-published book. It's won 4 national awards, mostly in visionary fiction and has a 4.5 star rating on Amazon.
Talk to readers about self-published books and eBooks and you'll almost always hear the same thing: Their quality sucks. (I'm including books/eBooks produced by independent presses in the same category.) From the story to the writing, editing, proofreading, interior and cover design, someone (and often many someones) will find them lacking. Me, for instance. I've bought some real turkeys.
Here are a few evaluations of self-pubbed books from the Net:
Nathan Bransford's Blog: Have You Ever Read a Self-published Book? Nathan conducts a survey in the article. The 285 comments on this blog article say pretty much everything there is to say about self-pubbed and independently published books.
Here's a great article on self-pubbing from 3AM Magazine. The magazine whose motto is: "Whatever it is, we're against it." This is a critical an article as you can get. And informative.
And another piece from Novel Rocket: Self publishing vs. Traditional Publishing. Don't stop there, Google the subject yourself. Lots of people agree that self-pubbed books are a waste of money.
We've all bought them: abominable self-published books. We can complain about them forever. But how can we guard against them?
I have two ideas that may separate the cream from the dreck: contest wins and star ratings on major review sites.
Contest wins. Here I'm talking about contests for independent presses, not the Pulitzer Prize, the Booker Award, the Nobel Prize, the Nebula Award and all the other big "official" contests. You can read books that have won the prime-time awards and be pretty assured of getting a good read. Or not. The most boring book I've ever read was a Pulitzer Prize winner. Exquisite words. No action. I developed a rule for judging my reading material: A book should show some movement by the 50% point. Some small sign of life. Anything.
Tecolote: The Little Horse That Could. This book won five national awards and has a 5-star average review on Amazon. It is published by an independent press.
OK. We're talking about self-published and independently published books, so we'll look at their contests. Here's an article (by me) about how to win a book contest. I've won 21 awards in national book contests at this point in my career. (They're listed here somewhere, except for the last four, which haven't been posted yet. I am an author (self-published) and owner of an independent press, just to stay honest.)
When you read the article about what it takes to win an indie book contest, I think you'll realize that books that win contests have been screened for quality. I doubt the major publishers do anything like what I describe in producing their books.
I have been involved in the judging of one contest and I will say that YOU CANNOT BELIEVE HOW GOOD THE BOOKS PRODUCED AT THE TOP END OF THE INDIE PUBLISHING WORLD ARE. They are amazing. Indie publishers will go far beyond what the majors do if they're really committed to a book.
And the low end, even in contests, the books are awful. But those books don't win.
So, as a consumer, you should feel somewhat confident in buying prize winners. Just as you should in buying Nobel or Pulitzer Prize winners. There's the rub: It's a matter of taste. If you buy the wrong book in the wrong genre, it's a bad book for you, no matter what it's won. I can't read Cormac McCarthy's bloody tomes, though they're critically acclaimed.
These links list few contests for independent publishers that I like:
Publishing Basics: A Book Award Adds Value to Your Book
You might want to check out the winners of the contests listed there. My recommendation is not a guarantee that you'll like the books. A contest win is a screening device.
Numenon: A Tale of Mysticism & Money. This book won 6 national awards, has a 4.5 star Amazon review rating. It was #1 rated in three types of mysticism for almost a year. This is an indie book.
Star Ratings on Amazon and the Other Review Sites
"Oh, Amazon reviews don't mean anything. They're rigged. The authors get their friends and family to review their books," says almost everyone who's never tried to get a review.
Hah! Maybe I've got the wrong friends and family, but that just ain't true. It's hard to get reviews. We sent out 100 copies of my children's picture book, Tecolote: The Little Horse That Could. It's got a five star average with ten reviews on Amazon, very few of them from folks who got review copies. I've been in a book group for fifteen (15!) years. I used my book The Angel & the Brown Eyed Boy for my selection of the month when it came out. I made two personal appeals for reviews and three emailed ones. Nada.
I didn't get a single review from my best buddies. Even more: I handed out a bunch of copies of both books at my church group, asking my friends to read and review them. They all raved about the books after reading them and said they would write reviews right away. Six months later, not a single review has shown up from that group.
Know John Locke? He's the self published author who broke history by selling more than one million books earlier this year. He published his marketing plan as an aid to other authors and independent presses. Do you know what he said was one of the most difficult things to accomplish? Getting five 5-star reviews to start out with. Took him two months of work, and he's a marketing master.
So, if you know someone with lots of friends who are rigging their Amazon reviews, send them to me. I wouldn't mind a little help. My books' mostly 5 star average reviews were earned.
Other sites, Goodreads for instance, and Barnes & Nobel.com, provide reviews. I don't have much experience with them, though I can say that the ratings on Goodreads tend to be lower than on Amazon and often have a cavalier quality. Readers can just punch a button to give a book a star rating. They don't have to say anything about why they gave the rating or even if they read the book. But that star rating is permanent and can lower a book's standing.
Stepping Off the Edge: Learning & Living Spiritual Practice. This 5-star rated book won six national awards. It was a Finalist in the Benjamin Franklin Awards in Spirituality. This was the first book of an indie press.
Reviews go two ways, too. I like the way John Locke looks at his reviews in terms of his market segment. When analyzing his reviews, John regards the people giving his books 4 and 5 stars as people in is market segment. Those are the people for whom he writes the books. He tosses out all the 3-star reviews, as being neither good nor bad. The people who give his books 1 or 2-star reviews are those who have mistakenly bought a book that's not for them. His books are self-screening; those that like them buy more, those that don't, don't buy more. His review averages are rising over time.
There is another side of reviewing: Authors can get slammed with bad reviews that really indicate the purchaser bought a book in the wrong genre. I guess we publishers should make sure the book covers, flaps, and marketing materials convey the book's content. Authors can also be attacked by rivals in organized campaigns of negative reviews and have their books saleability destroyed. It's true.
Life is risky and so are on-line reviews.
Here's an interesting idea: Here are a couple of sites where all the books listed must have a minimum rating of four stars on at least 10 reviews by different reviewers.
Four Stars and Up: Kindle Books Loved by Readers Lots of good reading there. You can download the books onto your Kindle, or use the recommended books to buy print or eBooks for other formats.
Facebook Group: 4 Stars & Up This is an Open Group on Facebook that requires authors to meet the 10 book/4 star minimum review to participate. This is a great place for readers to interact with independent press owners and self publishers. You may find they and their books are way higher quality than you thought.
Remember the genre issue: If you buy a book and hate it, it doesn't mean it's a terrible book. It may mean that you don't like horror, chick-lit, or cozy-mysteries and that's what you've bought.
OK. I hope you're armed and ready to take on the self publishing universe.
Sandy Nathan, Award-winning Author
Sandy Nathan
I hope my little slide show has convinced you that self published books can be very good.
Winner of twenty-one national awards
Sandy's books are: (Click link to the left for more information. All links below go to Kindle sale pages.)
The Angel & the Brown-eyed Boy
Numenon: A Tale of Mysticism & Money
Tecolote: The Little Horse That Could
Stepping Off the Edge: Learning & Living Spiritual Practice
.
How to Buy a High Quality Self-published or Indie-published Book or eBook
The Angel & the Brown-eyed Boy. This is the cover of a self-published book. It's won 4 national awards, mostly in visionary fiction and has a 4.5 star rating on Amazon.
Talk to readers about self-published books and eBooks and you'll almost always hear the same thing: Their quality sucks. (I'm including books/eBooks produced by independent presses in the same category.) From the story to the writing, editing, proofreading, interior and cover design, someone (and often many someones) will find them lacking. Me, for instance. I've bought some real turkeys.
Here are a few evaluations of self-pubbed books from the Net:
Nathan Bransford's Blog: Have You Ever Read a Self-published Book? Nathan conducts a survey in the article. The 285 comments on this blog article say pretty much everything there is to say about self-pubbed and independently published books.
Here's a great article on self-pubbing from 3AM Magazine. The magazine whose motto is: "Whatever it is, we're against it." This is a critical an article as you can get. And informative.
And another piece from Novel Rocket: Self publishing vs. Traditional Publishing. Don't stop there, Google the subject yourself. Lots of people agree that self-pubbed books are a waste of money.
We've all bought them: abominable self-published books. We can complain about them forever. But how can we guard against them?
I have two ideas that may separate the cream from the dreck: contest wins and star ratings on major review sites.
Contest wins. Here I'm talking about contests for independent presses, not the Pulitzer Prize, the Booker Award, the Nobel Prize, the Nebula Award and all the other big "official" contests. You can read books that have won the prime-time awards and be pretty assured of getting a good read. Or not. The most boring book I've ever read was a Pulitzer Prize winner. Exquisite words. No action. I developed a rule for judging my reading material: A book should show some movement by the 50% point. Some small sign of life. Anything.
Tecolote: The Little Horse That Could. This book won five national awards and has a 5-star average review on Amazon. It is published by an independent press.
OK. We're talking about self-published and independently published books, so we'll look at their contests. Here's an article (by me) about how to win a book contest. I've won 21 awards in national book contests at this point in my career. (They're listed here somewhere, except for the last four, which haven't been posted yet. I am an author (self-published) and owner of an independent press, just to stay honest.)
When you read the article about what it takes to win an indie book contest, I think you'll realize that books that win contests have been screened for quality. I doubt the major publishers do anything like what I describe in producing their books.
I have been involved in the judging of one contest and I will say that YOU CANNOT BELIEVE HOW GOOD THE BOOKS PRODUCED AT THE TOP END OF THE INDIE PUBLISHING WORLD ARE. They are amazing. Indie publishers will go far beyond what the majors do if they're really committed to a book.
And the low end, even in contests, the books are awful. But those books don't win.
So, as a consumer, you should feel somewhat confident in buying prize winners. Just as you should in buying Nobel or Pulitzer Prize winners. There's the rub: It's a matter of taste. If you buy the wrong book in the wrong genre, it's a bad book for you, no matter what it's won. I can't read Cormac McCarthy's bloody tomes, though they're critically acclaimed.
These links list few contests for independent publishers that I like:
Publishing Basics: A Book Award Adds Value to Your Book
You might want to check out the winners of the contests listed there. My recommendation is not a guarantee that you'll like the books. A contest win is a screening device.
Numenon: A Tale of Mysticism & Money. This book won 6 national awards, has a 4.5 star Amazon review rating. It was #1 rated in three types of mysticism for almost a year. This is an indie book.
Star Ratings on Amazon and the Other Review Sites
"Oh, Amazon reviews don't mean anything. They're rigged. The authors get their friends and family to review their books," says almost everyone who's never tried to get a review.
Hah! Maybe I've got the wrong friends and family, but that just ain't true. It's hard to get reviews. We sent out 100 copies of my children's picture book, Tecolote: The Little Horse That Could. It's got a five star average with ten reviews on Amazon, very few of them from folks who got review copies. I've been in a book group for fifteen (15!) years. I used my book The Angel & the Brown Eyed Boy for my selection of the month when it came out. I made two personal appeals for reviews and three emailed ones. Nada.
I didn't get a single review from my best buddies. Even more: I handed out a bunch of copies of both books at my church group, asking my friends to read and review them. They all raved about the books after reading them and said they would write reviews right away. Six months later, not a single review has shown up from that group.
Know John Locke? He's the self published author who broke history by selling more than one million books earlier this year. He published his marketing plan as an aid to other authors and independent presses. Do you know what he said was one of the most difficult things to accomplish? Getting five 5-star reviews to start out with. Took him two months of work, and he's a marketing master.
So, if you know someone with lots of friends who are rigging their Amazon reviews, send them to me. I wouldn't mind a little help. My books' mostly 5 star average reviews were earned.
Other sites, Goodreads for instance, and Barnes & Nobel.com, provide reviews. I don't have much experience with them, though I can say that the ratings on Goodreads tend to be lower than on Amazon and often have a cavalier quality. Readers can just punch a button to give a book a star rating. They don't have to say anything about why they gave the rating. But that star rating is permanent and can lower a book's standing.
Stepping Off the Edge: Learning & Living Spiritual Practice. This 5-star rated book won six national awards. It was a Finalist in the Benjamin Franklin Awards in Spirituality. This was the first book of an indie press.
Reviews go two ways, too. I like the way John Locke looks at his reviews in terms of his market segment. When analyzing his reviews, John regards the people giving his books 4 and 5 stars as people in is market segment. Those are the people for whom he writes the books. He tosses out all the 3-star reviews, as being neither good nor bad. The people who give his books 1 or 2-star reviews are those who have mistakenly bought a book that's not for them. His books are self-screening; those that like them buy more, those that don't, don't buy more. His review averages rise over time.
There is another side of reviewing: Authors can get slammed with bad reviews that really indicate the purchaser bought a book in the wrong genre. I guess we publishers should make sure the book covers, flaps, and marketing materials convey the book's content. Authors can also be attacked by rivals in organized campaigns of negative reviews and have their books saleability destroyed. It's true.
Life is risky and so are on-line reviews.
Here's an interesting idea: Here are a couple of sites where all the books listed must have a minimum rating of four stars on at least 10 reviews by different reviewers.
Four Stars and Up: Kindle Books Loved by Readers Lots of good reading there. You can download the books onto your Kindle, or use the recommended books to buy print or eBooks for other formats.
Facebook Group: 4 Stars & Up This is an Open Group on Facebook that requires authors to meet the 10 book/4 star minimum review to participate. This is a great place for readers to interact with independent press owners and self publishers. You may find they and their books are way higher quality than you thought.
Remember the genre issue: If you buy a book and hate it, it doesn't mean it's a terrible book. It may mean that you don't like horror, chick-lit, or cozy-mysteries and that's what you've bought.
OK. I hope you're armed and ready to take on the self publishing universe.
Sandy Nathan, Award-winning Author
Sandy Nathan
I hope my little slide show has convinced you that self published books can be very good.
Winner of twenty-one national awards
Sandy's books are: (Click link to the left for more information. All links below go to Kindle sale pages.)
The Angel & the Brown-eyed Boy
Numenon: A Tale of Mysticism & Money
Tecolote: The Little Horse That Could
Stepping Off the Edge: Learning & Living Spiritual Practice
.
How to Buy a High Quality Self-published or Indie-published Book
The Angel & the Brown-eyed Boy. This is the cover of a self-published book. It's won 4 national awards, mostly in visionary fiction and has a 4.5 star rating on Amazon.
Talk to readers about self-published books or books produced by independent publishers and you'll almost always hear the same thing: Their quality sucks. From the story to the writing, editing, proofreading, interior and cover design, someone (and often many someones) will find them lacking. Me, for instance. I've bought some real turkeys.
Here are a few evaluations of self-pubbed books from the Net:
Nathan Bransford's Blog: Have You Ever Read a Self-published Book? Nathan conducts a survey in the article. The 285 comments on this blog article say pretty much everything there is to say about self-pubbed and independently published books.
Here's a great article on self-pubbing from 3AM Magazine. The magazine whose motto is: "Whatever it is, we're against it." This is a critical an article as you can get. And informative.
And another piece from Novel Rocket: Self publishing vs. Traditional Publishing. Don't stop there, Google the subject yourself. Lots of people agree that self-pubbed books are a waste of money.
We've all bought them: abominable self-published books. We can complain about them forever. But how can we guard against them?
I have two ideas that may separate the cream from the dreck: contest wins and star ratings on major review sites.
Contest wins. Here I'm talking about contests for independent presses, not the Pulitzer Prize, the Booker Award, the Nobel Prize, the Nebula Award and all the other big "official" contests. You can read books that have won the prime-time awards and be pretty assured of getting a good read. Or not. The most boring book I've ever read was a Pulitzer Prize winner. Exquisite words. No action. I developed a rule for judging my reading material: A book should show some movement by the 50% point. Some small sign of life. Anything.
Tecolote: The Little Horse That Could. This book won five national awards and has a 5-star average review on Amazon. It is published by an independent press.
OK. We're talking about self-published and independently published books, so we'll look at their contests. Here's an article (by me) about how to win a book contest. I've won 21 awards in national book contests at this point in my career. (They're listed here somewhere, except for the last four, which haven't been posted yet. I am an author (self-published) and owner of an independent press, just to stay honest.)
When you read the article about what it takes to win an indie book contest, I think you'll realize that books that win contests have been screened for quality. I doubt the major publishers do anything like what I describe in producing their books.
I have been involved in the judging of one contest and I will say that YOU CANNOT BELIEVE HOW GOOD THE BOOKS PRODUCED AT THE TOP END OF THE INDIE PUBLISHING WORLD ARE. They are amazing. Indie publishers will go far beyond what the majors do if they're really committed to a book.
And the low end, even in contests, the books are awful. But those books don't win.
So, as a consumer, you should feel somewhat confident in buying prize winners. Just as you should in buying Nobel or Pulitzer Prize winners. There's the rub: It's a matter of taste. If you buy the wrong book in the wrong genre, it's a bad book for you, no matter what it's won. I can't read Cormac McCarthy's bloody tomes, though they're critically acclaimed.
These links list few contests for independent publishers that I like:
Publishing Basics: A Book Award Adds Value to Your Book
You might want to check out the winners of the contests listed there. My recommendation is not a guarantee that you'll like the books. A contest win is a screening device.
Numenon: A Tale of Mysticism & Money. This book won 6 national awards, has a 4.5 star Amazon review rating. It was #1 rated in three types of mysticism for almost a year. This is an indie book.
Star Ratings on Amazon and the Other Review Sites
"Oh, Amazon reviews don't mean anything. They're rigged. The authors get their friends and family to review their books," says almost everyone who's never tried to get a review.
Hah! Maybe I've got the wrong friends and family, but that just ain't true. It's hard to get reviews. We sent out 100 copies of my children's picture book, Tecolote: The Little Horse That Could. It's got a five star average with ten reviews on Amazon, very few of them from folks who got review copies. I've been in a book group for fifteen (15!) years. I used my book The Angel & the Brown Eyed Boy for my selection of the month when it came out. I made two personal appeals for reviews and three emailed ones. Nada.
I didn't get a single review from my best buddies. Even more: I handed out a bunch of copies of both books at my church group, asking my friends to read and review them. They all raved about the books after reading them and said they would write reviews right away. Six months later, not a single review has shown up from that group.
Know John Locke? He's the self published author who broke history by selling more than one million books earlier this year. He published his marketing plan as an aid to other authors and independent presses. Do you know what he said was one of the most difficult things to accomplish? Getting five 5-star reviews to start out with. Took him two months of work, and he's a marketing master.
So, if you know someone with lots of friends who are rigging their Amazon reviews, send them to me. I wouldn't mind a little help. My books' mostly 5 star average reviews were earned.
Other sites, Goodreads for instance, and Barnes & Nobel.com, provide reviews. I don't have much experience with them, though I can say that the ratings on Goodreads tend to be lower than on Amazon and often have a cavalier quality. Readers can just punch a button to give a book a star rating. They don't have to say anything about why they gave the rating. But that star rating is permanent and can lower a book's standing.
Stepping Off the Edge: Learning & Living Spiritual Practice. This 5-star rated book won six national awards. It was a Finalist in the Benjamin Franklin Awards in Spirituality. This was the first book of an indie press.
Reviews go two ways, too. I like the way John Locke looks at his reviews in terms of his market segment. When analyzing his reviews, John regards the people giving his books 4 and 5 stars as people in is market segment. Those are the people for whom he writes the books. He tosses out all the 3-star reviews, as being neither good nor bad. The people who give his books 1 or 2-star reviews are those who have mistakenly bought a book that's not for them. His books are self-screening; those that like them buy more, those that don't, don't buy more. His review averages rise over time.
There is another side of reviewing: Authors can get slammed with bad reviews that really indicate the purchaser bought a book in the wrong genre. I guess we publishers should make sure the book covers, flaps, and marketing materials convey the book's content. Authors can also be attacked by rivals in organized campaigns of negative reviews and have their books saleability destroyed. It's true.
Life is risky and so are on-line reviews.
Here's an interesting idea: Here are a couple of sites where all the books listed must have a minimum rating of four stars on at least 10 reviews by different reviewers.
Four Stars and Up: Kindle Books Loved by Readers Lots of good reading there. You can download the books onto your Kindle, or use the recommended books to buy print or eBooks for other formats.
Facebook Group: 4 Stars & Up This is an Open Group on Facebook that requires authors to meet the 10 book/4 star minimum review to participate. This is a great place for readers to interact with independent press owners and self publishers. You may find they and their books are way higher quality than you thought.
Remember the genre issue: If you buy a book and hate it, it doesn't mean it's a terrible book. It may mean that you don't like horror, chick-lit, or cozy-mysteries and that's what you've bought.
OK. I hope you're armed and ready to take on the self publishing universe.
Sandy Nathan, Award-winning Author
Sandy Nathan
I hope my little slide show has convinced you that self published books can be very good.
Winner of twenty-one national awards
Sandy's books are: (Click link to the left for more information. All links below go to Kindle sale pages.)
The Angel & the Brown-eyed Boy
Numenon: A Tale of Mysticism & Money
Tecolote: The Little Horse That Could
Stepping Off the Edge: Learning & Living Spiritual Practice
.
November 11, 2011
Sam & Emily: A Romance from the Underground, Tales from Earth's End III
Captain Arthur Romero, a secret commando whose orders come from the highest levels of the military.
STOP IN THE NAME OF LOVE!
You never know where you'll find love. Sam & Emily find it in the least likely place of all: the underground bomb shelter at Piermont Manor.
Nuclear Armageddon destroys Earth. People seek refuge wherever they can. A few find it in a cement city three hundred feet below the planet's poisoned surface. The underground: a dank tomb. An echoing mausoleum. A sanctuary you can never leave.
Can love survive in the underground? Can anything survive there?
Find out in Sam & Emily, where lovers discover each other in hell and can't escape a passion that lasts a lifetime. A sizzling tale of love beyond time and hope.
THE SEQUELS TO THE ANGEL & THE BROWN-EYED BOY ARE COMING!
The Angel introduced an angelic extraterrestrial, a teenage genius, some of the baddest villains you've ever seen, and the end of the world. What do people say about The Angel?
"Where does Sandy Nathan find these people? They live. They breathe. You love 'em. You hate 'em. And you care about them.
"Where does she come up with these ideas? It's the end of the world. Or is it? Who are those golden people from some other planet? If they're so good, how can they ply Eliana with emotional blackmail? And where are they taking those Earth folks?
"I guess we'll just have to wait for the second book in the series. Hopefully, Sandy's writing fast."
Laren Bright, Award-winning author & Emmy nominated screenwriter
Writing about The Angel & the Brown-eyed Boy, Book I of Tales from Earth's End
Well, Sam & Emily: A Romance from the Underground is the second sequel to The Angel. (The first is Lady Grace.) Sam & Emily isn't out yet. Almost, but not quite. Only a few people have read the book. Here's an inside view from someone who just finished polishing the manuscript:
"I continue to be amazed at your ability not only to imagine and write about this huge cast of characters, in these . . . original worlds, but also to tell stories of such epic proportions while creating unforgettable people. This book has shocked and amused, made me laugh and cry, and caused me to think about all kinds of things."
Kathy K. Grow of DoWriteEditing
Sam & Emily: A Romance from the Underground
You'll never forget Sam & Emily.
November 9, 2011
Award-winning Book, Award-Winning Cover
I've got a great article from designer Lewis Agrell about what an award winning cover needs already posted on Your Shelf Life. You can read it here. Lewis says that the most successful book covers are the most beautiful. I think so.
They're a few other things winning covers need as well. Here are some guidelines for award-winning covers, illustrated with covers of award-winning books.
The Angel & the Brown-eyed Boy--This book won four national awards, including the Gold Medal in the 2011 IPPY (Independent Press) Awards in Visionary Fiction, the Visionary Fiction Category in the 2011 Indie Excellence Award, and New Age Fiction in the Best Books of 2011 (USA Book News). It was also a finalist in Fantasy/Sci-Fi in the Best Books Awards. This cover achieves dominance by being light and airy. It's theme, the transcendent dancer, carries out the theme of the book. It is a beautiful cover, meeting Lewis Agrell's standards. (It should: He designed it.)
The text on your cover should be visible from six feet away. Some designers are in love with the notion that "small is beautiful." Maybe, but not on book covers. If the type on your cover is tiny, blurred, or unintelligible, your sales and saleability will be impaired. You won't win anything in contests. Sorry.
"Achieve page dominance."A concept from telephone book ads. For a quick tutorial on commercial design, let's look at phone book ads. Open the yellow page ads in any phone book. Scan the page quickly. Where do your eyes land? Note the ad. Do it again on another page, and another.In all probability, the ad that draws your attention is simple. Uncluttered. Either black, white, or mostly empty. The ads that grab your eyeballs and hold them have attained page dominance. People hire consultants to create dominant ads for them.Now go to a bookstore sale table and look at the books. Which books grab your eyes? Which do you pick up? Buy? A book contest is like that table. Clear, bold design that dominates the competition will win.Your cover must have an emotional hook. Think archetypes. Primal images. Something that grabs the inner psychology of your reader/judge.To win contests, and much more importantly, to be purchased, your book cover and spine must dominate any table and any bookshelf.
Your title is really, really important. Your title embodies your book's essence. It is the first text the reader sees. It should be engaging, easy to read, evocative, and compelling––it should set the emotional tone for your book. As should the subtitle or tag line (the one line description below the title). Also, most of the big catalogs of books will list your book by its title only. It better be memorable.
The words on your cover, flaps, and first few pages of your book, your book's copy, should be unforgettable. These words are your prime real estate and are what will make your book succeed. The book contest judge, book store owner, and your buyer will make a decision about your book based on these words––in seconds. You want emotional hooks, ease of reading, and enchantment.Writing copy is a skill. You can write text like an angel and not be able to pump out a winning tag line. Emmy-nominated screenwriter Laren Bright, the best copy writer I know, wrote an article about "The Most Important Writing in Your Book." It's copy. That's what sells the book.
Book design, interior & exterior: Your book should look like Random House produced it, no less. Every page and every word should be as well designed as your cover. Go to a book store and look at bestselling books. Get a copy of the Chicago Manual of Style––a gigantic book that lays out everything about books––and make it your best friend.
Numenon: A Tale of Mysticism & Money. This book won the Silver Nautilus Award in Bicultural Fiction, the Silver Medal in the IPPYs, and awards in Visionary and Religious Fiction in the Best Books and Indie Excellence Awards. Notice how this cover would dominate pretty near anything.
A very important note: Never have your title page on the left side of the book. Do not do that. (I saw books with this flaw in a book contest I once helped judge. This is such a bad error that if you don't know how bad it is, you're in big trouble.) Know the proper order of pages in a book. Know what a half title page is and where it goes. The contest judge will know about these.
I was going to put a few links to other sites about award-winning covers, but when I looked up the articles, I found I didn't like their covers. A major rule is: If it's your book (or blog) you should like the cover.
I'm going to do a scrapbook of winning covers below.
[My blog software has decided it doesn't want to work any more on this post. ;-( So I can't label the last image. That's the cover of a new book, Sam & Emily: A Romance from the Underground, Book III of Tales from Earth's End. It hasn't won any contests yet, but I hope it will. It fits the book perfectly.]
I'll sign off here. All the best, Sandy Nathan
Stepping Off the Edge: Learning & Living Spiritual Practice. Another big winner:2007 Benjamin Franklin Award Finalist in New Age (Spirituality/Metaphysics)Bronze Medal Winner in Self Help, 2007 IPPY AwardsNational Indie Excellence Awards 2007: Finalist in THREE Categories: Autobiography/Memoir, New Age Non-Fiction & Spirituality.Best Books of 2007, USA Book News, Finalist in
Sam & Emily: A Romance from the Underground
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