Chuck Barrett's Blog, page 6

Advance reviews of BLOWN

Check out some of these awesome advance reviews of BLOWN by book reviewers—

 

“Barrett takes us on a thrill ride as we follow the twists and turns of the plot. Kaplan is an intriguing, likeable character, and it will be interesting to see what happens to him and possibly Inspector Moss in upcoming books.”

—Larissa Smith, Book Reviewer

“Once in never out this is the unspoken oath of every Delta Special Forces soldier and Gregg Kaplan is one. He stumbles into a blown WITSEC operation and gives his word to a dying deputy US marshal also a former delta and nothing could make him break his oath. A fast paced story involving organized crime, the CIA assassins and the Marshal’s and of course the FBI .Crooked cops great action make this a non-stop thrill ride.”

—Craig Davis, Book Reviewer

“Loved Blown! Intriguing, timely and big action which pleased me by beginning early. I plan to read more of this talented author.”

—Liz Mitchell, Book Reviewer

“Gregg Kaplan stays under the radar, it’s part of his job. When he goes into a restaurant he notices an old man with someone he identifies as a police officer. He also notices 3 men at the counter who immediately raise his suspicions. If he acts he will definitely not be under the radar, but he can’t just sit there and do nothing. He is proven right when the men try to assassinate the old man. Kaplan steps in to help but the officer with the old man, a WitSec officer, is killed but not before extracting a promise from Kaplan to protect the witness. Kaplan and the witness go on the run. Kaplan soon begins to suspect his witness has secrets. Full of action and suspense, this book will keep your interest from beginning to end.”

—Diane Saul, Bookseller

“Absolutely brilliant, could not put this book down.

The opening couple of pages grabbed my attention and that was it! We are introduced to Gregg Kaplan, a man on a mission which gets interrupted when he stops at a diner in Little Rock and so it starts…….

Great characters in Kaplan and also Moss, interesting descriptions of Witness Protection, well written, gripping, some twists along the way.

Highly recommended read and look forward to reading more by the same author.”

—Lee Marriot-Dowding, Book Reviewer

“Once in, never out. – Delta Force mantra.

Gregg Kaplan – officially he wasn’t there, wasn’t even in the country. He should have listened to his intuition as he entered the restaurant in Little Rock, Arkansas and got got back on his Harley Fat Boy and drove away. Instead he gets caught in the middle of a gunfight and ends up promising a dying U.S. Marshall (who also happens to be ex-Delta Force) that he’ll get his witness from the Witness Security Program, Tony Q, to a WITSEC safe house. He had NO idea what that was going to entail.

There are stories within stories within stories in this lightning-paced thriller. Just when I thought one tale was finishing up, another storyline popped up. And the thing is – all the story parts are fun to read and kept me guessing.

What do you get with BLOWN? Colorful characters including U.S. Marshall Pete Moss (yes, that’s his name) and an assassin called Valkyrie. A storyline that stretches from Lebanon to Arkansas to New Jersey to Martinique and all kinds of dangerous points in between.

I liked the pacing, the descriptions of people and places, especially the CIA and WITSEC safe places, and the sleight of hand moments when the author caught me unaware.

What I’m trying to say – with too many words probably – is that I really liked this book. And I recommend it to anyone that likes imaginative thrillers.”

—Cheryl Stout, Book Reviewer

 

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BLOWN Book Trailer

Check it out! Here is the book trailer for BLOWN. I hope you enjoy it and I hope you are getting ready for the big book release on May 19, 2015.

 

 

 

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Mark your calendars for the release of BLOWN!

THE BIG NEXT BOOK ANNOUNCEMENT!
I know what you’re thinking…What the heck took that bald headed guy so long to come out with another book?!You know the old adage, “Can’t rush a good thing.”First, let me say thank you to all my readers and followers for making Breach of Power such a huge success. It has sold and ranked well as an eBook and an Audible audiobook. Matter of fact, on the Amazon Kindle, Breach of Power reached #2 in the country in December in the Paid store!

Now let me take a few minutes to tell you about the good thing.

I am very excited to introduce my next book in this blog post.

On May 19, 2015 my next book will be released in print, eBook, and Audible audiobook. The title of the book is BLOWN. It marks the return of Gregg Kaplan in the first of the new series. To get the gist of the story (and understand the title), read on…

Gregg Kaplan is not an ordinary man, but a man with special skills, courtesy of the United States Government.

 

His assignment is to stay off the grid when he innocently stumbles into a blown witness protection detail in Little Rock, Arkansas. He simply could not walk away from the impending mayhem.

 

After the dust settles, a mortally wounded Deputy U.S. Marshal makes him promise to personally deliver the witness to a U.S. Marshals Service safe site.

 

Not just a promise, an oath.  A pledge between ex-Army Delta Force comrades.

A trust that could not be broken—Once in, never out.

 

Kaplan soon suspects the witness he vowed to protect has secrets of his own; secrets that go beyond his testimony for the U.S. government. When he discovers the witness is being tracked, Kaplan teams with a WitSec Deputy U.S. Marshal assigned to recover the witness, but soon realizes some merciless people are dead set on preventing the witness from reaching the safe site.

 

But the witness has a hidden agenda—One that could cost Kaplan his life.

Don’t worry, the Jake Pendleton series is still alive. The book after BLOWN is another Jake Pendleton book. The plan is to alternate series for a while. Jake will return in 2016!I believe I promised to let you be the first to see the new cover. Well, hang on to your socks because this is the coolest book cover ever! Special thanks to Kelly Young and Mary Fisher (boss lady) for this cover. They took my somewhat shaky idea and POW—what a cover! But don’t take my word for it, scroll down and see for yourself…

Pretty cool, huh? Thought you’d like it.I will send out a newsletter prior to the release date, pretty much as a reminder and to update you on anything that might have changed, so if you haven’t signed up yet, I encourage you to do so now. Please visit my website often for updates on the book. Sometime in the next few weeks, you will see PRE-ORDER buttons on my website for the Kindle eBook and the Audible audiobook. NOOK and Kobo links will be active on May 19. There will also be a PRE-ORDER link to get a signed print copy. Those will be signed and mailed out the week before so you can receive them by the release date.http://chuckbarrettbooks.com

For all you out there on Instagram—Follow me here: instagram.com/chuckbarrettbooks

I also promised a little teaser. The following is a scene from the book. It was rewritten so the scene in the book is different.Happy reading!

BLOWN TEASER

   Sleep deprivation took its toll.

   Focus diminished with every blink. His eyelids grew heavy and his field of vision narrowed. Gregg Kaplan rubbed his eyes and shook his head in an attempt to clear the cobwebs. Anything to stay awake.

   Sleep was not an option.

   His forearm still throbbed from the crushing force of the Rottweiler’s bite. That damn dog was not man’s best friend. He would have rather been shot.

   He studied the man next to him—his reluctant partner. The man had his massive hand clamped over the gunshot wound to his leg where, earlier, Kaplan made a makeshift tourniquet to stop the bleeding.

   It had worked.

   For now.

   “You know what they say about large hands, don’t you?” The man said while Kaplan was staring at his bloody pants leg.

   “Yeah,” Kaplan replied with a snappy comeback. “Large gloves.”

   Kaplan watched the big man feign a smile and then grimace. He was a tough son of a bitch and Kaplan knew the man’s pain was agonizing.

   “Hurt much?” Kaplan knew it was a stupid question to ask as soon as the words left his mouth.

   “Nah,” the man said with a sarcastic tone. “After I took the first bullet I thought to myself, hey, why not try this again. Kinda feels like someone sliced my leg open and poured hot sauce inside. You should give it a try.”

   “You’re not telling me anything I haven’t experienced firsthand.” Kaplan did know what a gunshot felt like. And it had happened to him on more than one occasion. “All those years in Special Forces, I knew who the enemy was. Civilian life is different. The enemy is harder to recognize…and I still get dragged into gun fights.”

   The big man winced and said, “How long have we been on this ledge anyway?”

   “Too long.”

   The two men had gone almost forty-eight hours without sleep, and fatigue had taken its toll. Focus was fading. Only the impending threat of death kept them from drifting into a lethal slumber.

   They made a pact to keep each other awake but now they sat shoulder-to-shoulder on the narrow ledge, leaning against each other, trying to keep the other from falling into the abyss below.

   The abyss was the rocky shore nearly five hundred below. The ledge where they sat was barely three feet wide and retreated behind them in both directions. It was that lofty perch where they now sat, high above the western Atlantic listening to the angry waves crash against the rocks, a constant reminder of the danger below. Wind, which was relatively calm at first, now whipped and whistled around the cliff and buffeted against them, threatening to blow them to their deaths.

   The adrenaline rush from earlier had turned against them. They were feeling the after-effects from that sudden increase of adrenaline into their bodies, a normal reaction after being thrust into their flight-or-flight environment.

   Kaplan had experienced this decline before. Shaking, muscle weakness, rapid drop in blood sugar, and sleep inducing effects were all part of adrenaline washout. He had been trained on how to deal with its toll. He was a lot younger then.

   The man had not trained in these types of survival tactics and the washout effects on him were profound. Kaplan saw his eyes blink and close. His torso waiver. Kaplan jabbed the man in his ribs and he jumped, almost falling off the cliff.

   “What the hell? Are you trying to kill me?”

   “Nope,” replied Kaplan. “Just the opposite. Trying to keep you alive.”

   “By pushing me over the edge?”

   Good, Kaplan thought. He had pissed the man off. That should keep him awake for a while.

   Moments later, Kaplan heard sounds coming at them from both directions on the ledge. The two men looked at each other, and without a spoken word Kaplan knew the man realized it was decision time.

   The man asked, “What do you think the odds are of us getting out alive?”

   “I think we can both agree jumping is out,” Kaplan said. “We’re trapped in the middle and outgunned six or eight to two…I’d say the odds are in our favor.”

   “That’s what I was thinking too.”

   “Then let’s do this.”

  They gave each other a nod, grasped their silenced weapons, and used the other to push themselves to their feet, a difficult task with almost no room on the ledge to maneuver.

   Kaplan took one last look over the promontory cliff into the rocky abyss below and knew it held certain death.

   What had boxed them in and was coming around the rocky walls brought with it the same certainty of death as well.

   In retrospect, he should have done it another way. If he could only rewind time, at the crossroads, he would have chosen a different path. No telling where it would have taken him, perhaps to the same place he was now, in the same kind of danger. Or possibly somewhere else altogether.

   Somewhere safer.

   Without all the bloodshed.

   Without all the death.

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Next Book Announcement on Friday!

The countdown is on!

On Friday (Jan. 16) I will reveal the new book cover and all the details about the upcoming release.

I will make the announcement in my newsletter, so if you haven’t signed up yet, do so before next Friday or miss your chance to be one of the first to get the word. It will not be posted on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram until later…perhaps much later!

And as a special treat, there will also be a teaser in the newsletter—a scene (rewritten) just to whet your appetite.

Don’t hesitate, sign up now! http://chuckbarrettbooks.com/mailing-list/

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And The Winner Is…

Congratulations go out to left coaster Juli Jackson for winning the newsletter sign-up contest. Juli won signed copies of the three Jake Pendleton thriller series paperbacks. Congratulations again and enjoy reading!

The post And The Winner Is… appeared first on Chuck Barrett.

Getting an Endorsement (blurb) for your book…

Finding endorsements or blurbs for your book and book jacket is no easy task. No one likes asking another author or a subject expert to read, review, and publicly endorse your book. What if they hate it? What if they disagree with it? Or what if they say no? The general understanding is if the person you ask agrees to read it and they don’t like it, you unconditionally accept their decision not to endorse it or give you a blurb and move on without harboring any ill will. No whining, moaning, or groaning. And no bad-mouthing an author who refuses either. One day someone might ask you to review their book and how will you handle it if you decide not to endorse it. Blurbs are done as a professional courtesy. It is the author’s name and reputation you’re asking them to put on your book. If they decline, politely thank them and look for an endorsement elsewhere. Authors/experts decline for a variety of reasons including just not wanting to do it. And that’s okay. I found the direct approach works best. Face to face works better than email. The worst that can happen is the person says no to your request. After that I can pretty much guarantee they haven’t given your book or your request a second thought. If they consent, give them your book/manuscript, get a one or two sentence endorsement, and then thank them profusely. It’s the business. Personally, I have always mailed a signed finished copy to them thanking them again for the endorsement. It’s plain old common courtesy.

What if I can’t get an endorsement? Don’t fret. It has rapidly reached the point where you, as an independent publisher/author, can’t get an endorsement from a traditionally published author. The big traditional houses seemed to have banded together and have forbidden—or at least strongly discouraged—their authors from blurbing self-published authors’ works. Why would they do that you ask? Probably because the tremendous increase in independent and self-published authors is becoming an increasing threat to their existence. They are losing sales to independently and self published authors and they don’t like it. The major publishing houses will likely go to even greater measures in the future to throttle back the momentum independent publishing has gained on the industry.

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Your Publishing Imprint Is A Reflection Of You…

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

First and foremost, your imprint needs a name. It is a reflection of you. Either who you are or how you want to be portrayed. Like most people who got into the independent publishing business for various reasons, I had to choose a name for my imprint as well. I wanted the name to be a reflection of my personality. Although I have lived most of my life in Florida, I always had a yearning for the Rocky Mountains. Fortunately for me, so does my wife. We are outdoors people and love to hike. My wife is actually the one who suggested the name and when I heard it, I knew she was right…again. So my original company name was Switchback Publishing. Switchback Publishing published my first two books The Savannah Project & The Toymaker. I decided I wanted to make a slight change of direction so I created a new company with a similar name…Switchback Press. In 2013, Switchback Press published Breach of Power, and this book Publishing Unchained. My long-range plan for Switchback Press is to offer other authors an avenue to do what this book is all about, become their own independent publisher.  It will also offer authors a self-publishing option under the Switchback Press imprint.

So now it’s your turn. If this is the direction you decide to take, then reach deep into your psyche and find a name that fits you and where you want your company to go. It can be as simple as your street name or something, like mine, which reflects a deeper personal meaning.

Now do a little more homework. Do a thorough Internet search and make sure your name isn’t taken. You might be the biggest penguin fan in the world, but don’t try to name your imprint Penguin. I’m sure that big company in New York won’t appreciate it and I’m quite certain you’d hear from them in short order. There are plenty of good names to choose from so find something unique that fits your tastes.

Once you have an imprint name, decide on a logo. Again, make it appropriate to your imprint name. Your logo will appear on the title page and on the spine of your book. This logo is what the public will associate with your company. Be creative and do it right. You need something on the spine even if it’s just the words. To give you an idea, here is my logo for the spine, inside the jacket, and the title page.

 

The next logo is the one I use on my website and letterhead.

 

 Now it’s your turn. Time to think of a good logo. Make it professional and a reflection of you. If you get stuck, seek some help from friends, relatives, and coworkers. Bounce ideas back and forth. If you are still having trouble, I recommend you find a graphics designer to help you. Good designers are a plethora of knowledge and creative ideas. Just remember to keep it original.

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Do You Have the Right Mindset For Independent Publishing

Previously we’ve discussed a few basics before you get started with your independent publishing venture—Toolkit, Types of publishing options, and more. Now let’s see if you have the proper mindset to move to the next step…

From this point on, you cannot think like an author. That will make this so much more difficult than it needs to be. Publishing is a business and must treated as one. Your mindset now is to THINK like a publisher. Authors are in the business of writing and getting published. Publishers are in the business of publishing and selling books. Sometimes the best interests of you-the-author and you-the-publisher are the same while other times they collide like a forty car pileup on the interstate.

Ready to start?

Author hat off?

Check.

Publisher hat on?

Check.

Before you begin ask yourself one more time, as a publisher, is this book really ready for publication? The reason I keep saying this is simple, once you pull the trigger and your book goes live, it is out there for the whole world to read. If it is not ready, readers will let you know. Maybe, if you’re lucky, they’ll do it via email, but the more likely scenario is with a bad review on Amazon. Avoid any future embarrassment by spending a little extra time now to ensure that your book has been carefully formulated, mindfully written, professionally edited, meticulously proofed, and creatively designed. Be a responsible publisher and do it right! In the long run, shortcuts cost sales. Being cheap reflects poorly on you as a publisher. I’m not advocating extravagance. I’m advocating quality. Believe me, the reader will know the difference as soon as she picks up your book.

Is the manuscript formatted correctly? My first two thrillers, The Savannah Project & The Toymaker, were drafted with standard manuscript formatting—1 inch margins all around, double-spaced, Times New Roman font. Later I had to go back and reformat the manuscript to get it ready for the interior layout or galley. Why do the extra work? A little trick I discovered when writing Breach of Power was to format the document ahead of time, set up styles, and use them as I typed the story. When I finished the manuscript, it was already formatted and, after thorough editing, ready for interior design. I suggest you use standard fonts recognized throughout all the graphics programs and make sure they are attractive and easy-to-read as well. Your interior layout isn’t just a little important—it’s critical. I’ll go into more detail in just a minute.

Is the book you’re about to publish fiction or non-fiction? The interior design of fiction books, especially if there are no graphics, is quite simple. Non-fiction is more difficult and labor intensive, especially if there are graphics, images, sidebars, and tables to consider. And even harder still, is turning that manuscript into an e-book while still retaining its visual appeal to the reader.

Do readers really judge a book by its cover? You betcha! I challenge you to do this and I’m certain you’ll learn something interesting about reader behavior, which is important to consider before you publish. Go to your local bookstore, big box or independent, it really doesn’t matter. Watch the browsers, not the customers who dart straight to a shelf, pick something up, and leave. They knew what they wanted before they walked in. The browsers have to be sold on a book before they buy it. They didn’t walk in the bookstore with anything particular in mind. They’re window-shopping. The first thing the book has to do is speak to the reader: “Please take me off the shelf.” Eye appeal. If the cover doesn’t grab them, the reader will pass it by. Your cover needs to stand out above the others on the shelf or the odds that it gets picked up are slim. You’ve heard the old adage, “You only get one chance to make a first impression.” It certainly holds true for your book cover. Don’t’ scrimp, it’s too important.

Now keep watching. After the reader pulls your book from the shelf, she’ll briefly glance at the back cover, and then she’ll open it up and thumb through the pages. Whether a conscious effort or not, her mind is registering whether the inside of the book will be easy to read. If she finds the interior inviting…line spacing, font, font size, paper quality, and color…she’ll return to the back cover and read it more intently. If you’ve done your job and designed an eye catching front cover, a comfortable inviting interior, and a snappy luring synopsis on the back cover, she’ll take your book to the cash register. If you haven’t, she’ll put it back on the shelf and move on. Win the sale, do it right.

 

Thanks for reading. Next installment will discuss selecting a name for your publishing company…and is a name really important?

 

 

chuckbarrettbooks.com

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Have you decided to publish your book in print?

It has been a while since I posted a blog about independent publishing…or a blog post at all…so what do you say we jump back in?

As I mentioned in an earlier installment, probably muddying the waters as I waded along, it is my opinion that there is a difference between self-publishing and independent publishing—however slight it might be. Now it’s decision time. How much work do you want to do? How much time are you willing to invest? How much control do you want over the final product? How willing are you to let other companies take a share of your money?

That last one got you, didn’t it? I know, you were thinking you wanted to do as little work as possible in as little time as possible, while retaining full control, and keeping all the money! Unfortunately it doesn’t work that way. If you want someone else to do most of the work, then you will relinquish some control over the final product. No publisher can offer you a self-publishing deal for $700 when you insist on a cover that will cost $500 to create. They will produce your book in the most cost-effective manner possible for them. Keep that in mind as you move forward. Publishers are in business to make money. They are not going to publish your book for you if they can’t make at least a few hundred dollars profit. It’s just that simple. Accept it, it’s a fact of life. That doesn’t mean a self-publishing company isn’t right for you. There are plenty of good ones out there. Many of my author friends have found Create Space, an Amazon company, to offer what they want for the right price.

I chose a different path. I toiled with the decision for months and none of the self-publishing companies offered—or even came close to offering—a product or package that met my requirements. I was not going to invest a lot of money in something I wasn’t 100% satisfied with. So when I came to the fork in the road, the same fork you might be standing at right now, I had to make a decision. Take the road to self-publishing with another company or the road to independent publishing. It was a difficult decision. I had to think about my decision long term. Where do I want my writing career to be next year? Five years from now? Ten? Do I really want to wear a publisher’s hat? How much does control over the final product really mean to me and will it matter to the reader?

What I found was that control mattered…and what the reader thought mattered even more. So, I chose independent publishing and have not regretted a day of it. Some days the long to-do list can be frustrating, but at day’s end, it’s worth it.

Independent publishing offers me the flexibility and control I couldn’t get from any of the self-publishing companies. I choose everything; cover design, interior design, you name it. And, as the publisher, I have to pay for it too. There is a cost to your wallet and your time. But there is satisfaction when you have control over the final product. I was not willing to relinquish control and let somebody else make a profit from my hard work and then possibly wind up dissatisfied with their results. If you’ve written a book you understand…it’s a labor of love. A part of you is in every manuscript you churn out. Because a part of me is in every manuscript I turn out, I took control. And if I turn out a bad product, I take the blame. I can accept that. Remember: do it right!

You know what the best thing about independent publishing is? There are no one else’s fingers in my pie. I spend the money; I get to keep the money. I know my costs up front and I know how many print books and e-books I have to sell to move each new project from red ink to black. After it makes that move, it’s all black. I do short-run printing with a print-on-demand (POD) printer so I only keep a small amount of inventory and have the flexibility to reorder as often as needed. POD printing costs a little more per book than offset printing, but it allows me to place smaller short-run print orders thus maintaining a smaller inventory. I only order books when I need books. And, in most instances, they will be delivered within a week of placing the order. However, if you have the spare change and want to order 10,000 print copies, be my guest, your cost per book will come way down. Find a good offset printer but be sure you have room to store the inventory of books. Even though it costs more per book to print, there is money to be made with a POD printer provided you use good judgment in pricing your project and controlling your other expenses. It certainly isn’t a get-rich-quick scheme by any measure, but with hard work and diligence, it can be profitable.

Put your independent publisher’s hat on and follow along with me as I explain how I forged into the world of publishing. After you’ve finished, maybe you’ll decide to follow the same path or strike out in a different direction. Perhaps down a path I have yet to discover. For anyone who buys this book, all I wish for you is success in publishing and selling your book(s).

Now grab your hiking gear and be prepared to climb Switchback Mountain. Yeah, yeah…a cheap plug for my imprint Switchback Press. But, as I’ll explain in a minute, your imprint is a reflection of you.

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AIBF Audiobook Winner

Congratulations to George Shea as the winner of a Breach of Power audiobook from Audible narrated by Scott Brick. Thank you to all who entered the contest and participated in the 2014 Amelia Island Book Festival on beautiful Amelia Island, Florida.