Joylene Nowell Butler's Blog, page 19

IWSG: Misguided loyalties

Welcome to the first Wednesday of the month, Insecure Writer's Support Group day. IWSG is the brainchild of our noble leader Alex J. Cavanaugh, who understands our need for fellowship. 
If this sounds like a group for you, check out IWSG's webpage for instructions. 
It's a simple process:
"Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer - aim for a dozen new people each time. Be sure to link to this page and display the badge in your post."

Our Twitter Hashtag is #IWSG
Alex's co-hosts for today are Krista McLaughlin , Kim Van Sickler,  Heather Gardner, and Hart Johnson - 
Please stop by and thank them for their time.  
THANKS!

We are also trying to get the IWSG on the Writers Digest Best 101 Websites list! 
Please email them at writersdigest@fwmedia.com, subject line 101 Websites, and suggest the IWSG - http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/



Today's Post:

My name is Joylene and I'm not only an insecure writer, I'm an insecure author.

I'm also a coward with misguided loyalties. 
When I found a publisher, after querying for 25 years, it was not happenstance. Someone knew someone who knew someone.

I was so grateful. A Metis from an obscure northern village in BC, and my writing was finally validated.

By my very nature I would never look a gift horse in the mouth. Even when it takes 19 months to receive a royalty cheque, I remain quiet. 
Why?
Do I not believe I deserve better?
Two years and seven months after I sent them the sequel to my novel, I’m just now realizing it’s okay to tell you how sad I feel. They're never going to read my blog or learn I've publicly acknowledged their disrespect. 
When I confessed to a Giller-prize nominated author and friend what was going on, she wasn't surprised. She advised I find a larger publishing house more worthy of my work. 

Eight months later, here I am. 
Why?
They published the first novel in the series and if they don't publish the second ... 
My validation will be revoked?

If this were you telling me about your publisher, I’d say "You deserve better." 
Beats me why I can’t say it to myself.


 Ask PZM - July ... is slated for Saturday, July 5, 2014.
 This month's Phyllis answers 2 questions:
1. Do you have any new thoughts on traditional publishing vs self-publishing? 2. What do you think of entering book and story contests?
If you have a question you'd like to ask Phyllis for her ASK PZM: August, email it to cluculzwriter at yahoo dot ca and I'll pass it along. 

Strange Worlds Recipes

Please give a warm welcome for my guest Hank Quense. He's back with another post, this one is a recipe I'm not quite sure about; but hey, I'm a Canuck and we've only ever had roadkill grouse.  The part about the feathers I can attest to, though.
After you pirate borrow Hank's recipe, stop by if you will and visit me at C. Lee Mckenzie's blog. Although I'm here, I'm also there talking about the collaborative anthology I wrote with six fellow authors. Yes, I have super powers and can be in two places at once. When my boys were young, that confused them a lot. Now, not so much. 


Strange Worlds Recipes
My name is Burga.  I’m warrior-cook.  Adventuring is my profession, but cooking is my passion and I love collecting new recipes to try.I’ve been a few short stories and the author, Hank Quense, has promised me a staring role in a novel, but the schmuck hasn’t done anything about it. As a consequence, I have to share my recipes to get coins to buy spices and herbs. Below are two of my best recipes in my collection.
Lily Pad Bundles
No elfin feast ever begins without these delightful bundles. Cuisine: ElfinCourse: AppetizerBurga Says: A refreshing change from 'ordinary' appetizers.  The pond scum lends a tasty piquant flavor.A good elf buddy of mine and me swapped a dozen recipes recently and this was one I got.  They make a great appetizer although non-elves often get sick from eating the bundles.
Time: One hour: start to finishServings: TwelveIngredients:12 large lily pads½ pound dried pond scum, chopped½ pound frog tongues, chopped1 pound wild onions, chopped1 pound swamp mushrooms, chopped1 quart cooking oilPreparation:1. Combine all ingredients except lily pads2. In a heavy skillet, cook mixture until heated throughout3. Remove from heat and cool.4. Spread equal amounts of mixture on each lily pad5. Roll up the lily pad and sealed the ends with a bit of water on a finger tip6.  Drop into hot cooking oil and cook until lily pads turn golden.
Grilled Road Kill
An alien delicacy from Zaftan 31B.  Don't try to cook this one in a hurricane.  And don't ever try to do this indoors.  Cuisine: ZaftanCourse: MainBurga Says: Roadkill to Zaftans is a highly-prized delicacy and the presence of a freshly mutilated creature on the roads often sparks murderous disputes, providing even more roadkillTime: Marinate 8 hours: grill 15 minutesServings: TwoIngredients:1 three pound roadkill roast1 cup motor oil1 quart ethanolPreparation:1. Don't bother to skin the meat. Any fur or feathers will burn off in the cooking process2. If the roadkill isn't a uniform thickness, bash the thick part with a mallet until it thins out.3. Combine one cup unused motor oil with one quart ethanol. Pour over meat and marinate overnight.4. Move a grill at least ten yards from any building. Place meat on grill and pour marinade over it,5. Ignite the grill using an electric sparked with at least ten feet of cable.6. When the fire dies down, serve the meat.

My complete collection of recipes is a free download. http://strangeworldsonline.com/PDF%20files/SWCookbook.pdf






Hank Quense is the author of 50 published short stories along with four novels and three collections of stories. All of these are humorous and/or satiric scifi and fantasy. In the non-fiction area, he has over a dozen articles published on fiction writing and he's the author of the Fiction Writing Guides series and the Self-publishing Guides series. Both series consist of a number of ebooks. The Fiction Writing Guides and the Self-Publishing Guides are an outgrowth of his lectures on both subjects.
Strange Worlds OnlineHank's Amazon PageHank's Blog PageSelf-publishing Guides

Hosting: Insecure Writer's Support Group

I'm over at IWSG website today, talking about utilizing DEEP POV.

Meanwhile, for your viewing pleasure, a snapshot of our beautiful grandson, Lucius JJ.

IWSG: Ask PZM - June 2014

Welcome to Insecure Writer's Support Group day, compliments of our very own fierce and noble Ninja Captain, Alex J. Cavanaugh. If you think this group sounds like a good place for you and you'd like to join, click here.
It's a simple process:
"Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer - aim for a dozen new people each time. Be sure to link to this page and display the badge in your post."
Our Twitter Hashtag is #IWSG


Alex's other awesome co-hosts for today are C. Lee McKenzie, Tracy Jo, Melanie Schulz, and LG Keltner! Please stop by and thank them for their time. 
Please help us spread the word about the Insecure Writer’s Support Group Website. And if you don't already know we have a IWSG Facebook site too.



IWSG Facebook Guidelines:
1. Since the focus of IWSG is support, the Facebook page should reflect this ideal.
2. You are encouraged to support your fellow IWSG'ers who share their writerly-related experiences, which include accomplishments/disappointments/challenges, with the rest of the group. Keep in mind that writers are at different points of their respective writerly journeys. Some lurk for a long time, before finding the courage to share with the rest of the group. Since the IWSG is all about community, a word of encouragement or advice may be just what somebody needs. Or even just a smiley face/thumbs up...
3. Promotional Saturday is your opportunity to add a link for any news you may have. The IWSG administrators reserve the right to remove promotional links, especially if they are posted haphazardly.

Now it's time for another post by my IWSG guest host Phyllis Zimbler Miller. If you have a question for Phyllis for our next IWSG (first Wednesday of the month), please forward your question to cluculzwriter at yahoo dot ca and I'm make certain she receives it. 
If you've missed any of Phyllis's posts, just type in Ask PZM in the search window on the right and it'll take you to all of them. 




Q: Is it worthwhile hiring a PR firm to market my books?
The answer to this question depends on several variables.
First, let us assume that you have a marketing budget that can cover the cost of a PR firm’s campaign, which frequently requires a number of months.
What goals do you want this campaign to achieve? Name recognition, validity for future writing projects, book sales?
If you are hoping for big sales, the question becomes:
How will you feel if you get great publicity in numerous places yet do not sell any books?
And, yes, this can happen.
But before you cross off the idea of paying for a PR campaign, consider what else you might achieve:
There is a marketing adage that people need to see a particular message several times before acting on that message. The same can go for name recognition of you or your book.
Having a PR firm get you publicity in places that you could not do so for yourself has the important advantage of getting your name and book in front of new people. And while these people might not buy your book now, if they come across more publicity about you at a later date, they might be motivated to buy your book then.
Then there is the scenario that you have a second book ready to go and want to get attention for that book from agents and/or book publishers. Being able to share links of multiple publicity features for your first book could have a very positive impact on these agents and book publishers.
It is important before hiring a PR firm to know what achievements are most important to you and whether traditional publicity or digital publicity fits better with these goals.
When reviewing what a firm is offering to do for you for a set price and set number of months, make sure that you and the firm are on the same wavelength. A PR company offering a certain number of followers on Twitter, for example, might not fit well with your main priority of getting book reviews in certain publications.
Another important consideration is how much work you are committed to do yourself for a specific PR campaign. If, for example, you are paying for a company to set up a blog tour for you, clarify how many blog posts in what amount of time you will be responsible for writing.
You will also need to know how many physical books you will be required to provide for a PR company’s review campaign for your book. Will the PR company pay for and do the shipping of these books, or will this be your responsibility?
If you have flexibility in the amount of money you are spending on a PR campaign, you may want to pay a company more if the company will handle these shipping chores. Or you may decide that you are happy to do the shipping yourself.
Although deciding to invest in a PR campaign is something that each author has to decide for herself and himself, this decision should be based on careful consideration of the various factors.

Q. What is #MSWL on Twitter?
#MSWL – Manuscript Wish List – is an organized chat that takes place on Twitter in which agents and editors tweet about the books that they are interested in acquiring and include the hashtag #MSWL.
(It is not, regardless of any such tweets you may see, a place to promote your published book for people to buy.)
You do not need to be present during the actual organized chat to see this list. Instead you can put #MSWL in the search bar of Twitter and see the tweets that have been posted with this hashtag. (Agents and editors may add tweets with this hashtag at times other than the organized chat.)
Sometimes the link for submission is put into the #MSWL tweet. Other times you have to click on the person’s Twitter username and read that person’s bio for the link to the agent or publisher site where manuscripts can be submitted.
Although there has been another way of seeing this list by going to http://agentandeditorwishlist.tumblr.com/ – when I checked in order to write this reply I noticed that the list on Tumblr has not been updated recently.
This may be because there is now a dedicated site for this list where you can search by book genre – check it out at mswishlist.com

TWEET #1 -  Is it worthwhile hiring a PR firm to market your books?  (Click to tweet)

TWEET #2 - The cons of using a PR Firm to market your book. (Click to tweet)

TWEET #3 - Understanding #MSWL on Twitter.   (Click to tweet)




Phyllis Zimbler Miller on Twitter is at http://twitter.com/ZimblerMiller and she is the author of fiction and nonfiction books on Amazon. Her fiction books on Amazon can be found at www.amazon.com/author/phylliszimblermiller and her nonfiction books at www.amazon.com/author/phylliszmiller

She is also a digital marketer who blogs on book topics at www.PhyllisZimblerMiller.com and you can download a free copy of her YA short story PINKY SWEAR at http://www.phylliszimblermiller.com/keep-in-touch/

FNN Report: Bermuda!

FNN Report: Travel Reporter Goes To Bermuda On The New NCL Breakaway
FNN travel reporter, Gina Vagabond, recently cruised to Bermuda on the brand new NCL Breakaway that sailed from New York City. She filed this report about her voyage.
What an exciting week! This new ship is gorgeous and filled with activities, great restaurants and tiny staterooms. All in all, the week I spent onboard was the most exciting in my life and the excitement had nothing to do with the ship.
Here is my daily account of the cruise.
Day 1: The ship was escorted out of the New York City harbor by a Fire Department fireboat shooting streams of water in the air from its water cannons. At one point a cannon became mis-aimed and hosed down the passengers lining the side of the ship to watch the water display and wave at the fireboat crew. No serious injuries were reported but there were many angry, wet passengers who promised to contact lawyers as soon as the ship returned to NYC.
Day 2: Somewhere in the North Atlantic Ocean, we were attacked by a decrepit WWII German U-boat. The U-boat's ancient captain order the Breakaway to stop engines so the U-boat's crew could board the vessel. The Breakaway's valiant passengers defended the Breakaway by hurling beer bottles (empty) at the U-boat as we easily sped away from the submarine.

Day 3: Still in the Atlantic Ocean, the ship had to detour three times to rescue survivors from separate yachts that mysteriously sank in the Bermuda Triangle. The survivors told tales of horror floating in water surrounded by rabid schools of minnows.

Day 4: Bermuda. During the afternoon of our first day in port, the ship was assaulted by the notorious Towel Pirates. They swarmed around the ship in motorized dinghies, rappelled up the side of the ship, stole beach towels drying on balconies and made their getaway with hundreds of damp towels.
Day 5: Bermuda: The local motorbike association hosted a competition between the Breakaway passengers and a second ship docked at the same port. Both ships tied up alongside a concrete dock hundreds of yards long. A dozen passengers from each ship lined up at one end of the dock and raced two at a time down the pier in elimination trials. Many of the bikes hit sixty miles a hour midway down the course. The winner was a 82 year old woman whose bike hit a high speed of 15 MPH. She was the only biker who managed to cross the finish line and stop the bike before going off the end of the dock.
Later on, two salvage ships showed up to fish out the bikes. There was a jurisdictional dispute about salvage territories resulting in a savage gunfight. No one was wounded but the ships took multiple bullet holes in the hull and both sank. Breakaway security later apprehended and ticketed the winner for drunk driving in her motorized wheelchair. She claimed she had drunk a magnum of champaign from her loving cup trophy. The woman was accused of injuring fifteen passengers by running over their toes.
Day 6: Bermuda: In a well-established Bermudian tradition, inebriated, kilt-wearing bagpipers serenaded the ship as it left Bermuda. After that, they marched lemming-style into the sea where a waiting trawler scooped them up in its nets to prevent loss of life.
Day 7: In the North Atlantic: Seal Team Six in a practice exercise, attack the ship and commandeered it. After forcing the ship to sail in circles for several hours, the Seals jumped overboard and disappeared.
Day 8: Our arrival back into New York was delayed by a massive traffic jam in the Lower Harbor near the Statue of Liberty. The rush-hour pile up involved a Staten Island Ferry, two tug boats, seven garbage scows (full), two freight barges, a multi-million dollar yacht, a Coast Guard cutter and four rowboats. It took hours to pluck the crews from the water and clear the wreckage.
All in all, I experienced a most unforgettable week. Oh, and the cruise was pretty cool too.







Hank Quense is the author of 50 published short stories along with four novels and three collections of stories. All of these are humorous and/or satiric scifi and fantasy. In the non-fiction area, he has over a dozen articles published on fiction writing and he's the author of the Fiction Writing Guides series and the Self-publishing Guides series. Both series consist of a number of ebooks. The Fiction Writing Guides and the Self-Publishing Guides are an outgrowth of his lectures on both subjects.

Strange Worlds Online
Hank's Amazon Page
Hank's Blog Page
Self-publishing Guides

Writer's Process Blog Tour

Nicholas C. Rossis, author of the epic fantasy series Pearseus, invited me to participate in a project with global reach, The Writer’s Process Blog Tour.

Nicholas was born in 1970 in Athens, Greece. He loves books and writes children’s books and science fiction. He has had numerous science fiction short stories published in Greek magazines and in an anthology.

Nicholas resides in Athens, where he currently lives with his wife, dog and two very silly cats. I hope you'll stop by and pay him a visit.

Last week Nicholas answered four questions about his work and process on his blog, and nominated three other writers to continue the chain. I was one of them, so it is now my turn to address my writing and introduce you to one talented writer you may not know. Sadly, by the time it came around to me, everyone I knew had already participated.

Please circulate this post on your social media, Twitter, FaceBook and so on to keep the blog tour going!

1) What am I working on?I'm trying to finish my 2-year-old WIP titled BROKEN MAN. Just broke the 90K mark, so I'm close.
Broken Man is the return (didn't set out to do this) of FBI Agent Mike Canaday (now PI) the hero from DEAD WITNESS.
Though he doesn't show up until chapter 26 in Broken Man, Canaday leaves an indelible mark on my protagonist.
BROKEN MAN is the story of Jason Sinclair, an American expatriate in Vancouver, BC. English professor at UBC, who gives up everything to find the driver responsible for deliberately running down his wife Brigitte in Gastown.
Jason's relationship with his grown daughter Ava is in trouble, but he's too caught up in tracking his wife's killer to fix it. He hires Canaday to travel with him to the UK to follow leads that suggest something happened during Brigitte's business trip to prompt someone to travel to Canada to kill her.

Jason risks everything to find out why. His quest is the only thing keeping him sane.

2) How does my work differ from others of its genre?
I love good suspense thrillers. My favourite authors are Eric Lustbader, Tom Woods, Alexandra Sokoloff, and Lawrence Sanders; to name a few. 

What makes my work differ from these authors would have to be me.
We all have our own stories to tell. Mine seem to centre around a protagonist trying to survive a horrendous death in the family. 
I'm not a fast learner, and it probably took completing three manuscripts before I understood I write stories as a way to deal with life's tragedies.
I wrote my first unpublished manuscript Always Father's Child after my dad died. I thought writing his story would keep his memory alive. 

I wrote DEAD WITNESS while dealing with the death of our eldest son in 1991. DEAD WITNESS was published in 2008. 

BROKEN BUT NOT DEAD was edited while dealing with the death of our second oldest son (twin to the oldest) in 2006. 


I wrote OMATIWAK: Woman Who Cries after the death of my mother in 1999. Another twelve years passed before Theytus published it in 2011.
Not the approach I'd recommend. Heaven forbid.


3) Why do I write what I do?
After our eldest was killed in a car accident in 1991, I stopped writing. I thought, how frivolous: Wasting precious moments writing stupid fiction.  
Of course, 18 months later, I realized I wrote to distract myself and because I felt less lethal while writing.  There's a lot of rage associated with grieving. 
To this day I still turn the rage into fiction and push my characters into situations where their only recourse is to fight to prevail, or give up trying.

In DEAD WITNESS, Canadian Valerie McCormick defies the FBI and sets a trap for the mafia killer bent on hurting her children to stop her from testifying against him.
In BROKEN BUT NOT DEAD, UNBC English professor Brendell Meshango takes matters into her own hands and goes after the psycho stalker threatening to harm her and her daughter.
In the sequel to Broken, OMATIWAK: Woman Who Cries, Sally Warner finds the body of her husband dead on the kitchen floor. Having lost their sons the year before, Sally tires to help RCMP Corporal Danny Killian investigate her husband's death while maintaining a snippet of sanity. 
4) How does my writing process work?
Let's just say I'm not someone you'd want to emulate. On a bad day it goes something like this:
6 - 6:30 am. -- Watching the morning news.

7 am. -- Breakfast served up hot. Hubby loves to cook.




9 am. -- Chores (dishes, laundry, bed, vacuuming) finished and I'm sitting down to computer. By that time everyone is gone, cats are napping, and blind is closed so I'm not distracted by what's happening outside.



11 am. -- Finished blogroll and comments, answered email, and am now editing WIP.

12 am -- Stop to have a light lunch and visit with family. Maybe step outside to enjoy sun.



12:30 -  3 pm -- work on WIP: editing, editing, editing.

4 - 5 pm -- Attempt to write new scene. Aiming for 500 words


5 pm -- Having written 500 new words, (yeah right!) stop to prepare supper if I can't talk hubby into cooking.
9 - 10 pm -- retired for the night. 

I generally try to stay away from the computer after dinner. My husband and I watch hockey, then retired for the night. I work on the next scene while attempting to fall asleep. Especially if it's causing me problems.

6 am -- I'm back at it.


MY FRIEND


As I mentioned above I was unable to find 2 other authors who hadn't already done the tour. However, I was lucky that Carole Anne Carr was free to participate.


If you don't know Carole, boy are you in for a treat. I'm not even sure how we met. It's been several years, and I know with certainty I'm a better person for having met her. 
Carole specializes in writing Children's stories. But she's also a storyteller, illustrator, creative writing tutor, minister, actress, speaker and artist. Mentor!
(In a word: Terrific!)
Carole has worked in a bank in Central Africa, has been a teacher, held the Office of Reader in the Church of England, been a professional actress, and sold her papier-mâché sculptures into Europe. She now works as a poet and writer of children’s exciting adventure stories that are historically accurate and are used by teachers in schools, and in universities, in many parts of the world.


http://caroleannecarr.co.uk
Having had a bit of a rough time later, Carole is now back to writing. She's currently working on RIVER DARK. After it's published, she's planning on a sequel to FIRST WOLF, followed by the sequel to THIN TIME. 



You can find out more about Carole on her webpage. 



Carole lives in England with her dear husband.

IWSG: Ask PZM May 2014

It's that wonderful time again, the time for Insecure Writer's Support Group day, compliments of our very own fierce and noble Ninja Captain, Alex J. Cavanaugh. If you think this group sounds like a good place for you and you'd like to join, click here.


It's a simple process:

"Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer - aim for a dozen new people each time. Be sure to link to this page and display the badge in your post."

Our Twitter Hashtag is #IWSG
Alex's other awesome co-hosts for today are Elsie, Mark Koopmans, and Lisa Buie-Collard! Please stop by and thank them for their generous time and effort.

Please help us spread the word about the Insecure Writer’s Support Group Website. And if you don't already know we have a IWSG Facebook site too.

IWSG Facebook Guidelines:

1. Since the focus of IWSG is support, the Facebook page should reflect this ideal.

2. You are encouraged to support your fellow IWSG'ers who share their writerly-related experiences, which include accomplishments/disappointments/challenges, with the rest of the group. Keep in mind that writers are at different points of their respective writerly journeys. Some lurk for a long time, before finding the courage to share with the rest of the group. Since the IWSG is all about community, a word of encouragement or advice may be just what somebody needs. Or even just a smiley face/thumbs up...

3. News & Promotional Saturday is your opportunity to add a link. The IWSG administrators reserve the right to remove promotional links, especially if they are posted haphazardly.





ASK PZM - MAY 2014

Q. Any new changes on social media that are good for authors?
The one change that I think is particularly good for authors is Twitter’s new profile image header option. Basically, this new large-scale image is similar to the image header on Facebook and Google+.

For this new Twitter option I have used an image featuring some of my book covers (as I have on Facebook and Google+). Check out this new option at http://twitter.com/ZimblerMiller


And if you are not yet on Twitter, this is a good time to join!

Side note: I actually think this new layout does not work as well for checking out people’s Twitter bios and tweets. But that’s another topic.


Q. Any other tidbits of information?



Wattpad:

I’ve often mentioned Wattpad here (and here is a post on my author site about some Wattpad changes – http://budurl.com/Wattpadchanges)

Recently a Wattpad contest submission period ended. I only knew about the contest because, as an author on Wattpad, I was sent a notice about the contest.

The contest rules allowed each author to submit up to three entries. I quickly removed my screwball romantic comedy novella HOT POTATO from KDP Select and added this novella to Wattpad so I could submit the story as one of my three entries.

Then I added two other of my short stories that, while also available via Kindle, are not on KDP Select: the PTSD short story SOLOMON’S JUSTICE and the YA short story PINKY SWEAR.

This kind of flexibility – that of owning the rights to one’s work – allows us indie authors to take advantage of new opportunities. And we should definitely be on the lookout for such opportunities.

(See the stories I currently have on Wattpad at http://www.wattpad.com/mystories)



Innovative author blog tour:

Prolific author Helen Page asked me to participate in an innovative author blog tour. I said yes and then at first had a hard time finding three other authors with blogs who wanted to take part.

Luckily I was reminded about the LinkedIn book marketing group that I started (and last September turned over the admin of this group). I posted an announcement there and quickly got two very interesting authors.

Here’s the link to the blog post I wrote as part of this tour: http://budurl.com/authorblogtour

And perhaps this innovative marketing strategy will inspire you to undertake a similar effort.



Q: What about the case of disappearing reviews on Amazon?

This is a serious issue that, as often with big sites such as Amazon, is cloaked in published rules and unpublished actions.

I know from experience that an author friend of mine is blocked from writing a review for any of my books on Amazon even though we have NO financial arrangement with each other and she only wants to do so when she really enjoys one of my books.

Apparently Amazon mistrusts that authors who are friends (and how does Amazon know this?) can actually want to read each other’s books, and if these authors like the books, contribute reviews about those books!

I also know anecdotal information about older reviews being taken down for what appears to be unclear reasons.

Thus the blog post “Authors’ New Amazon Headache” by Sarah Pinneo about authors using Amazon gift cards to give out books is very interesting.



Disclaimer: I cannot be assured that everything in the post is accurate due to the secrecy cloaking Amazon’s relationship with its authors.

That said, here is the link to this informative blog post – decide for yourself what you think of the information: http://querytracker.blogspot.com/2014/04/authors-new-amazon-headache.html



TWEET #1 - New changes on social media that are good for authors (click to tweet)

TWEET #2 - Newest changes on Wattpad (click to tweet)

TWEET #3 - The case of disappearing reviews on Amazon (click to tweet)




Phyllis Zimbler Miller on Twitter is at http://twitter.com/ZimblerMiller and she is the author of fiction and nonfiction books on Amazon. Her fiction books on Amazon can be found at www.amazon.com/author/phylliszimblermiller and her nonfiction books at www.amazon.com/author/phylliszmiller

She is also a digital marketer who blogs on book topics at www.PhyllisZimblerMiller.com and you can download a free copy of her YA short story PINKY SWEAR at http://www.phylliszimblermiller.com/keep-in-touch/








Joylene's afterthought:

I was so caught up in finishing my WIP (just broke 90K words) and preparing for the release of BREAK TIME I forgot to host an ice-breaking contest. If you're new, it's a contest where everyone guesses when the ice is going off Cluculz lake. If we're still here next year, I'll try to remember.

Oh yeah, it left May 2nd.




April 26, 2014



May 2, 2014
May 5, 2014

X-FACTOR

I'm over at IWSG today doing the A-Z Challenge. X is for X-factor. Come visit me.

Oh, before you go...

Remember that steampunk anthology I told you about? The one that caused me nothing but grief and I was so sure I'd never finish.

It's gone to press!



I'll tell you more when I know more.

--best
joylene

FNN Report: Texas Board of Ed Wants New Numbers

Hey! While I'm over at IWSG for the A-Z challenge talking about the letter P, (drop by and say hi, will ya) my good buddy Hank Quense is here so Stacy Conundrum can report for FNN (faux news network). They make it up so you don't have to!
Tongue, cheek, tongue in cheek, cheek in tongue, whatever's necessary, carry on Hank!
FNN Report: Texas Board of Ed Wants New Numbers


This Faux News Network exclusive report was filed by our political reporter Stacy Conundrum:
The Texas Board of Education has announce a new initiative after it realized that America uses numbers developed by Moslems. It has authorized a project staffed by astrologers, numerologists, phrenologists and Bible experts to develop an American, Christian set of numbers to replace our current Arabic numbers. They hope to have the new numbers in text books by the start of the school year in September 2014.
A spokesperson for the Board told our reporter, "It is symbolic of our inept Federal Government that they have ignored this insult to our Christian nation. Their refusal to respond to our righteous demands has forced our hand. While the Board accepts the responsibility to develop an American number system, we anticipate that the project will be attacked by the liberal wimps in and out of government. We will disregard their unjustified criticism and do our Christian, American duty. This is a crash project. The sooner we finish it, the sooner our children will stop being exposed to the pernicious, foreign and ungodly influence of our current numbers.
"Our Board is extremely disappointed that none of the state's math teachers and none of our NASA scientist or engineers agreed to join the project. In a further demonstration of partisan rancor, our project has been denounced by the American Academy of Science. The Texas Board of Education responds by decrying this liberal rathole of reactionary and dubious science."
When asked by our reporter about the Board's project, a spokesperson for the American Academy of Science replied, "This is absurd. It smacks of the Dark Ages."
To learn more about the Faux News Network, visit the network’s webpage.


Hank Quense is the author of 50 published short stories along with four novels and three collections of stories. All of these are humorous and/or satiric scifi and fantasy. In the non-fiction area, he has over a dozen articles published on fiction writing and he's the author of the Fiction Writing Guides series and the Self-publishing Guides series. Both series consist of a number of ebooks. The Fiction Writing Guides and the Self-Publishing Guides are an outgrowth of his lectures on both subjects.

IWSG: Ask PZM - April 2014

Before we jump into Ask PZM...




Just want to let you know I'm over at IWSG today doing my part for the A-Z Challenge (my post: B is for Books). Also, today is Wednesday and that means it's time for Insecure Writer's Support Group, compliments of our very own fierce and noble Ninja Captain, Alex J. Cavanaugh. If you think this group sounds like a good place for you and you'd like to join, click here.

It's a simple process: 
"Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer - aim for a dozen new people each time. Be sure to link to this page and display the badge in your post."



Our Twitter hashtag is #IWSG
Alex's awesome co-hosts for today are Hart Johnson, Chemist Ken, Candilynn Fite, Terri Rochenski, Clare Dugmore, and Lilica Blake! Please stop by and thank them for their generous time and effort. 

Please help us spread the word about the Insecure Writer’s Support Group Website. And if you don't already know we have a IWSG Facebook site too. 
IWSG Facebook Guidelines:

1. Since the focus of IWSG is support, the Facebook page should reflect this ideal.

2. You are encouraged to support your fellow IWSG'ers who share their writerly-related experiences, which include accomplishments/disappointments/challenges, with the rest of the group. Keep in mind that writers are at different points of their respective writerly journeys. Some lurk for a long time, before finding the courage to share with the rest of the group. Since the IWSG is all about community, a word of encouragement or advice may be just what somebody needs. Or even just a smiley face/thumbs up...

3. News & Promotional Saturday is your opportunity to add a link. The IWSG administrators reserve the right to remove promotional links, especially if they are posted haphazardly.



  

ASK PZM - April 2014

Q: How do I create shortened URLs for my books on Amazon?

Until recently you needed to go to a URL shortener service to reduce those very long Amazon book URLs (the web address on your browser at the top of a book’s page on Amazon). I used bit.ly because this shortener service automatically has an abbreviation for Amazon — such as this bit.ly link for my cozy mystery CAST THE FIRST STONE — http://amzn.to/SLYBJY
Amazon has now realized its long book URLs do not look well on social media and is offering an easy alternative. The newest shortcut is using your ebook’s ASIN number or your print book’s 10-digit ISBN number along with www.amzn.com like this:
www.amzn.com/B00A29SS6C — ebook of CAST THE FIRST STONE
www.amzn.com/1490535489 — paperback of CAST THE FIRST STONE
You just create your own shortened URLs with this system without having to go to a URL shortener service.




Q: Could you explain what Amazon’s Kindle Worlds is?
Here is how Amazon describes its Kindle Worlds:
“New stories inspired by books, shows, movies, comics, music, and games people love.




“Welcome to Kindle Worlds, a place for you to publish fan fiction inspired by popular books, shows, movies, comics, music, and games. With Kindle Worlds, you can write new stories based on featured Worlds, engage an audience of readers, and earn royalties.


“Amazon Publishing has secured licenses from Warner Bros. Television Group’s Alloy Entertainment for Gossip Girl, Pretty Little Liars, and The Vampire Diaries; Valiant Entertainment for Archer; Armstrong, Bloodshot, Harbinger, Shadowman, and X-O Manowar; Hugh Howey’s Silo Saga; Barry Eisler’s John Rain novels; Blake Crouch’s Wayward Pines series; and The Foreworld Saga by Neal Stephenson, Greg Bear, Mark Teppo, Eric Bear, Joseph Brassey, Nicole Galland, and Cooper Moo. Licenses for more Worlds are on the way.”



In March I had the privilege of hearing Philip Patrick, publisher of Kindle Worlds and Amazon Publishing’s Director of Business Development, speak about his vision of this innovative program on Amazon, which launched in June of 2013. (He was the speaker at an event of the meetup group Hollywood 2.0: The Future of Storytelling.)
As Patrick explained, he sees Kindle Worlds as offering access to writers – giving writers opportunities to showcase their writing ability to fans of existing worlds. And, by extension, fans have the opportunity to read more about their favorite worlds.
Of course, writers must follow the rules that each world on Kindle Worlds has – rules set as part of the Amazon licensing agreement with the copyright holder. For example, in the case of the world of Veronica Mars, only a specific time period (high school and college) for her adventures can be written about on Kindle Worlds.


If you are a fan of one of the worlds and you would like to try writing fan fiction, Kindle Worlds could be a good place for you. The authors of published fan fiction get royalties plus publicity exposure. This might be a way to attract attention for your other writing projects.
You can check out the current Kindle Worlds at https://kindleworlds.amazon.com/ – with more expected soon – along with a video of the January 2014 Kindle Worlds Authors Webinar. And you can follow Kindle Worlds on Twitter at https://twitter.com/kindleworlds
And remember, if you want a public platform where you can showcase your own non-fan fiction writing (although not get paid for it), consider Wattpad. Just remember to click “Advanced” under OPTIONS and choose “All Rights Reserved.” While this doesn’t necessarily protect your work from being stolen by someone, it is important to do.



In terms of utilizing Wattpad, you have to decide on your own level of comfort with putting your work out there. I’m personally writing two projects on Wattpad – Cold War memoir TALES OF AN AMERICAN OCCUPYING GERMANY at http://budurl.com/TAintro and dystopian thriller THE MOTHER SIEGE at http://budurl.com/MSintro

TWEET #1 - How to create shortened URLs on Amazon (click to tweet)
TWEET #2 - Understanding Kindle Worlds (click to tweet)
TWEET #3 - Creating a public platform on Wattpad (click to tweet)



Phyllis Zimbler Miller on Twitter is at http://twitter.com/ZimblerMiller and she is the author of fiction and nonfiction books on Amazon. Her fiction books on Amazon can be found at www.amazon.com/author/phylliszimblermiller and her nonfiction books at www.amazon.com/author/phylliszmiller

She is also a digital marketer who blogs on book topics at www.PhyllisZimblerMiller.com and you can download a free copy of her YA short story PINKY SWEAR at http://www.phylliszimblermiller.com/keep-in-touch/