R.J. Parker's Blog, page 34
March 30, 2013
True Crime Book on Female Serial Killers Author Sylvia Perrini
My friend and fellow true crime author Sylvia Perrini just published her first Boxed Set of books called WOMEN SERIAL KILLERS THROUGH TIME Boxed Set (4 in 1)
Book Description:This is a collection of four books;
Women Serial Killers of the 17th Century
Women Murderers of the 18th Century
Women Serial Killers of the 19th Century
Women Serial Killers of the 20th Century
Our society can barely account for evil in males, let alone imagine it in females. The female nests, creates, and nurtures doesn't she or is it that we just want to believe in the intrinsic non-threatening nature of women?
Violence is generally considered the territory of the male. People believe that violence is a masculine trait caused by the hormone testosterone. Men are seen as the cause of violence, and women and children the ones who suffer. Literature through the centuries abounds with the submissiveness of female flesh, its compliant form, its penetrability. The female body gives life itself. Women do not physically dominate, thrust, and swagger. Women create, while men destroy.
A grave misconception is that female serial killers are rare creatures, that they are not very common, a myth perpetuated by both the press and popular media.
Serial killers are not a phenomenon unique to the late twentieth century, nor are they exclusive to America. The case histories of the killers mentioned in these books clearly demonstrate that women serial killers have been active in many countries and for many centuries.
Available on Amazon at the following:
AMAZON.COM AMAZON.CO.UK AMAZON.CA
Book Description:This is a collection of four books;
Women Serial Killers of the 17th Century
Women Murderers of the 18th Century
Women Serial Killers of the 19th Century
Women Serial Killers of the 20th Century
Our society can barely account for evil in males, let alone imagine it in females. The female nests, creates, and nurtures doesn't she or is it that we just want to believe in the intrinsic non-threatening nature of women?
Violence is generally considered the territory of the male. People believe that violence is a masculine trait caused by the hormone testosterone. Men are seen as the cause of violence, and women and children the ones who suffer. Literature through the centuries abounds with the submissiveness of female flesh, its compliant form, its penetrability. The female body gives life itself. Women do not physically dominate, thrust, and swagger. Women create, while men destroy.
A grave misconception is that female serial killers are rare creatures, that they are not very common, a myth perpetuated by both the press and popular media.
Serial killers are not a phenomenon unique to the late twentieth century, nor are they exclusive to America. The case histories of the killers mentioned in these books clearly demonstrate that women serial killers have been active in many countries and for many centuries.
Available on Amazon at the following:
AMAZON.COM AMAZON.CO.UK AMAZON.CA
March 29, 2013
True Crime Book FREE on Amazon
TOP CASES OF THE FBI is free March 29-30 in the Kindle Store on Amazon. If you haven't read this award-winning book, now's a good time to download an eBook copy.
March 28, 2013
TRUE CRIME - SERIAL KILLERS ANTHOLOGY BOOK First Annual 2014
Modified March 28, 2013. What I've modified will be in 'Blue' color.
William Cook
,
Peter Vronsky
and I are putting together an Anthology of Serial Killers due for publication Nov/Dec 2013 (print + eBook+ audiobook) published by Parker Publishing and available on all markets including Amazon, B&N, iTunes, Kobo etc. 'SKA' will profile well known international authors of true crime. We are going to set a limit of 10 authors which will include a few other authors, mostly fictional, from the thriving Indie scene.Prerequisite: the stories must be new to you, in other words, you haven't written about these SK's before. Also, cannot be any case stories that me, Peter, Lee, or Sylvia have written in our books.
The Anthology is going to be published by Parker Publishing and edited by William Cook and any other volunteers to proofread. I have acquired 10 beta readers who will also proof read. The stories I'm looking for have to induce a sense of terror in the reader – the kind of fear that makes someone keep reading but prevents them from sleeping! That is the main thematic criteria. Cannibal stories are okay. A mixed bag of SK's is desirable: females, males, unsolved, doctors, nurses, etc. with various methods of murder: strangulation, knives, guns, poison, etc.
Write about the lesser known SK's around the world, not Bundy, Dahmer etc. as there's too much already on the market and we have nothing new to add. Current cases like Lamb and the LISK is fine.
Looking to make this a 300 page book, or about 100,000 words. If we have 10 authors, that's 10,000 words each. We can do 2 x 5000 word stories or 1 x 10,000. TBD. I'd prefer two stories each. Write your SK case so that it's easy to read and flows nicely, tone down the academic so that it's not verbose.
The anthology will be available for Christmas so plenty of time to send us your best SK stories. So as not to duplicate stories, ie, RJ writing about the Pig Farmer and another writing the same short story, once you have your story idea, post your topic(s) in the comments section of this blog.
Deadline: Have your stories finished by August 14, 2013. Also, make sure any images are not copyright protected, and source your research. Deadline for the 1000 word submission is April 30, 2013. Peter, William and I will select 4 other authors that will be part of this project. Please note that this is the FIRST ANNUAL ANTHOLOGY and the authors selected will have first right of refusal for next years book.
Please send submissions to Author RJ Parker
Put TRUE CRIME - SERIAL KILLERS ANTHOLOGY 2014 in the subject line.
Double space, 2 spaces after a period, indent paragraphs, show scene break by a centered ***don't double dash -- use the dash you want...No headers, footers, or page numbers.Don't underline for italics, use italicsSubmit work as a Word Doc only.TIMES NEW ROMAN SIZE 12
Put your BIO at the end of the story with your picture and URL links, also, author page, website, Facebook fan page, twitter name etc.
Rights: First World English, Digital, Print, Audio and Anthology.
Rejections/Acceptances will be announced electronically by the middle of May, 2013. I request that you submit to me the first 1000 words asap so that we can get a feel for your non-fiction writing and we'll advise you to continue on or not as 4 authors are being chosen.
Royalties will be discussed as this comes together and determined how many authors are interested in this project. The royalty breakdown has been set and once all authors are confirmed then you'll be advised.
Confirmed Authors:
Peter Vronsky
RJ Parker
Lee Mellor
Sylvia Perrini
William Cook
Dane Ladwig
Authors who expressed interest and will be submitting samples:
Kim Cresswell
Christine Sutton
Lori Safranek
Michelle McQueen
Karen Sciocia
David Naughton Shires
Mike Arntfield
If you are interested in submitting a short sample, please comment below on the topic you'd like to chose. Whatever you decide to pick is considered gone so decide fast.
Beta Readers: Claire Woodman
Mandy Greenhalgh
Sandy Johnson
Theresa Klawinski Teltschik
Andrea Carver
Kevin Tipple
Kat Yares
Mary Daniels
Beth Macewan
JoAnn Brown
We have enough beta readers and I not be accepting any more.
The Anthology is going to be published by Parker Publishing and edited by William Cook and any other volunteers to proofread. I have acquired 10 beta readers who will also proof read. The stories I'm looking for have to induce a sense of terror in the reader – the kind of fear that makes someone keep reading but prevents them from sleeping! That is the main thematic criteria. Cannibal stories are okay. A mixed bag of SK's is desirable: females, males, unsolved, doctors, nurses, etc. with various methods of murder: strangulation, knives, guns, poison, etc.
Write about the lesser known SK's around the world, not Bundy, Dahmer etc. as there's too much already on the market and we have nothing new to add. Current cases like Lamb and the LISK is fine.
Looking to make this a 300 page book, or about 100,000 words. If we have 10 authors, that's 10,000 words each. We can do 2 x 5000 word stories or 1 x 10,000. TBD. I'd prefer two stories each. Write your SK case so that it's easy to read and flows nicely, tone down the academic so that it's not verbose.
The anthology will be available for Christmas so plenty of time to send us your best SK stories. So as not to duplicate stories, ie, RJ writing about the Pig Farmer and another writing the same short story, once you have your story idea, post your topic(s) in the comments section of this blog.
Deadline: Have your stories finished by August 14, 2013. Also, make sure any images are not copyright protected, and source your research. Deadline for the 1000 word submission is April 30, 2013. Peter, William and I will select 4 other authors that will be part of this project. Please note that this is the FIRST ANNUAL ANTHOLOGY and the authors selected will have first right of refusal for next years book.
Please send submissions to Author RJ Parker
Put TRUE CRIME - SERIAL KILLERS ANTHOLOGY 2014 in the subject line.
Double space, 2 spaces after a period, indent paragraphs, show scene break by a centered ***don't double dash -- use the dash you want...No headers, footers, or page numbers.Don't underline for italics, use italicsSubmit work as a Word Doc only.TIMES NEW ROMAN SIZE 12
Put your BIO at the end of the story with your picture and URL links, also, author page, website, Facebook fan page, twitter name etc.
Rights: First World English, Digital, Print, Audio and Anthology.
Rejections/Acceptances will be announced electronically by the middle of May, 2013. I request that you submit to me the first 1000 words asap so that we can get a feel for your non-fiction writing and we'll advise you to continue on or not as 4 authors are being chosen.
Royalties will be discussed as this comes together and determined how many authors are interested in this project. The royalty breakdown has been set and once all authors are confirmed then you'll be advised.
Confirmed Authors:
Peter Vronsky
RJ Parker
Lee Mellor
Sylvia Perrini
William Cook
Dane Ladwig
Authors who expressed interest and will be submitting samples:
Kim Cresswell
Christine Sutton
Lori Safranek
Michelle McQueen
Karen Sciocia
David Naughton Shires
Mike Arntfield
If you are interested in submitting a short sample, please comment below on the topic you'd like to chose. Whatever you decide to pick is considered gone so decide fast.
Beta Readers: Claire Woodman
Mandy Greenhalgh
Sandy Johnson
Theresa Klawinski Teltschik
Andrea Carver
Kevin Tipple
Kat Yares
Mary Daniels
Beth Macewan
JoAnn Brown
We have enough beta readers and I not be accepting any more.
March 25, 2013
SELF-PUBLISHING Tips for INDIE Authors
Over the past couple of years, I've acquired quite a lot of knowledge in the self-publishing industry. The following is a re-post that I just recently edited and added to. I hope it helps you.As an Independent Publisher, Indie or Newbie, as we are called, we are competing against thousands of established authors for the reader's attention. We only have 5 to 10 seconds to capture a potential reader and make that sale.
The first thing a reader will see is your book cover. It has to be compelling enough so that the reader will click on it. In my research, I found that people like colorful graphics with not a lot of words. The cover should have no more than the title, authors name and maybe 4 or 5 gripping words as not to crowd it. People don't want to see clutter. If they do, they won't click on the picture.
In the review section of your book page, it is important to have as many as possible excellent reviews typed neat and tidy and no more than 3 lines each. So, if someone gave you a 5 star review, pick out the best parts, usually the adjectives. The reviews is a quick indicator if the reader is interested enough to read the product description.
So the potential buyer liked your cover image, quickly scanned and was impressed with your reviews, he will now look at the product description. This is where he will exit your book or click to purchase. It is imperative, that the first 2 lines be gripping. Think of the most enticing things you can say about the book you wrote. Not something from the book. The description in total should be no more than 4 or 5 lines. People are looking for books and they are not going to read a long winded description. However, after that, add another one or two short one-sentence reviews.
For the most part, people don't bother reading customer reviews/comments because every has their own opinions and people are not easily swayed if they are interested in the topic and book. DO NOT go into the specifics of the book itself or you will lose any excitement you built. The objective is to instill confidence in the potential buyer that your book is for them.
So, to recap... colorful cover, many short reviews neat and tidy, 2-3 sentences in your description, a few more short reviews and that's it....no long clutter.
TAGS. I've done dozens and dozens of book reviews for fellow authors and many times I see there are no tags. Tags are to assist in searching for a book. For example, if someone types in the search section for serial killers, FBI, Ted Bundy etc., my books will come up. It's very important to maintain your tags also because some people will tag your book, ie, over priced, kindle free etc., take those out and put in new words. An author can type in up to 15 tags.
Also, if you are doing a review for another author, 'like' their page and click 'yes' this was helpful for the good stars and 'no' this wasn't helpful for the bad stars... it all helps your fellow author's rankings, and we need to support each other. Have a look at your Author's Page and make your books enticing.
GIFTING Gifting your book has many advantages. From experience, DO NOT gift your book directly to a recipient using their email address. This gives them the option to return your book and get a refund on their account. Always gift the book to yourself. Then send the recipient the gift code. If the person returns the book, your account is refunded not theirs. After all, you paid for the gift.The benefits of gifting - It is considered a sale so therefore you get royalty on the gift sale. It also affects your sales ranking in a positive way. Ask the person you gifted the book to for a review.
One more thing. Facebook. Interact with your fans. Chat them up. Ask questions. Play trivia games etc. In March of 2012 I had 160 followers on my Facebook Fan Page now I have over 65,000. I receive over 300 messages everyday and I answer all of them personally. If you engage your fans, they like that. They tell their friends and more people get involved. Many of the established authors don't need to do this, but we do.
These are just a few tips, but it's helped me maintain 9 books in the Top 100 paid list on Amazon in their respective categories for one year and counting. Happy selling, RJ
Tag: Tips for Indie Authors, Self-publishing tips
The first thing a reader will see is your book cover. It has to be compelling enough so that the reader will click on it. In my research, I found that people like colorful graphics with not a lot of words. The cover should have no more than the title, authors name and maybe 4 or 5 gripping words as not to crowd it. People don't want to see clutter. If they do, they won't click on the picture.
In the review section of your book page, it is important to have as many as possible excellent reviews typed neat and tidy and no more than 3 lines each. So, if someone gave you a 5 star review, pick out the best parts, usually the adjectives. The reviews is a quick indicator if the reader is interested enough to read the product description.
So the potential buyer liked your cover image, quickly scanned and was impressed with your reviews, he will now look at the product description. This is where he will exit your book or click to purchase. It is imperative, that the first 2 lines be gripping. Think of the most enticing things you can say about the book you wrote. Not something from the book. The description in total should be no more than 4 or 5 lines. People are looking for books and they are not going to read a long winded description. However, after that, add another one or two short one-sentence reviews.
For the most part, people don't bother reading customer reviews/comments because every has their own opinions and people are not easily swayed if they are interested in the topic and book. DO NOT go into the specifics of the book itself or you will lose any excitement you built. The objective is to instill confidence in the potential buyer that your book is for them.
So, to recap... colorful cover, many short reviews neat and tidy, 2-3 sentences in your description, a few more short reviews and that's it....no long clutter.
TAGS. I've done dozens and dozens of book reviews for fellow authors and many times I see there are no tags. Tags are to assist in searching for a book. For example, if someone types in the search section for serial killers, FBI, Ted Bundy etc., my books will come up. It's very important to maintain your tags also because some people will tag your book, ie, over priced, kindle free etc., take those out and put in new words. An author can type in up to 15 tags.
Also, if you are doing a review for another author, 'like' their page and click 'yes' this was helpful for the good stars and 'no' this wasn't helpful for the bad stars... it all helps your fellow author's rankings, and we need to support each other. Have a look at your Author's Page and make your books enticing.
GIFTING Gifting your book has many advantages. From experience, DO NOT gift your book directly to a recipient using their email address. This gives them the option to return your book and get a refund on their account. Always gift the book to yourself. Then send the recipient the gift code. If the person returns the book, your account is refunded not theirs. After all, you paid for the gift.The benefits of gifting - It is considered a sale so therefore you get royalty on the gift sale. It also affects your sales ranking in a positive way. Ask the person you gifted the book to for a review.
One more thing. Facebook. Interact with your fans. Chat them up. Ask questions. Play trivia games etc. In March of 2012 I had 160 followers on my Facebook Fan Page now I have over 65,000. I receive over 300 messages everyday and I answer all of them personally. If you engage your fans, they like that. They tell their friends and more people get involved. Many of the established authors don't need to do this, but we do.
These are just a few tips, but it's helped me maintain 9 books in the Top 100 paid list on Amazon in their respective categories for one year and counting. Happy selling, RJ
Tag: Tips for Indie Authors, Self-publishing tips
March 22, 2013
Dr. H. H. Holmes and the Whitechapel Ripper by Dane Ladwig
I've been a follower of
Dane Ladwig's - A View from my Loft
for a long time and I'm really excited about his upcoming book release in 2013 called "Dr. H. H. Holmes and the Whitechapel Ripper", due out this fall. This book in my opinion, will be a bestseller within a month of launching. Many Jack The Ripper fans await this book, that will unequivocally prove that Dr. H.H. Holmes and JTR are one and the same. It is exciting. This book will re-write history.
Dane has been a Ripperologist studying JTR for over 40 years. He's leaving nothing to chance. He's dug deep. "I am currently working with Scotland Yard, the London Metropolitan Police, the United Kingdom National Archives, the United States National Archives, the Gilmanton, New Hampshire Historic Society, Dartmouth College, the University of Michigan Medical School, and various experts and certified investigators in a unified and collaborative effort to expose the truth", says Dane in his latest blog Holmes Manuscript Update .
Check it out and click to follow Dane on a View from My Loft. Dane also just released the book cover.
Tag: New Book Releases, Dr. H.H. Holmes, Bestselling Holmes Book, Dane Ladwig, Jack The Ripper
Dane has been a Ripperologist studying JTR for over 40 years. He's leaving nothing to chance. He's dug deep. "I am currently working with Scotland Yard, the London Metropolitan Police, the United Kingdom National Archives, the United States National Archives, the Gilmanton, New Hampshire Historic Society, Dartmouth College, the University of Michigan Medical School, and various experts and certified investigators in a unified and collaborative effort to expose the truth", says Dane in his latest blog Holmes Manuscript Update .
Check it out and click to follow Dane on a View from My Loft. Dane also just released the book cover.
Tag: New Book Releases, Dr. H.H. Holmes, Bestselling Holmes Book, Dane Ladwig, Jack The Ripper
March 20, 2013
Self Publish on Amazon's Kindle Store KDP Publishing
I've helped almost 30 authors to self-publish and many author friends have referred their friends to me to pick my brain. I'm not an expert by any means, but, I've acquired a wealth of knowledge, along with some tips and tricks along the way. I've made errors too and I've learned from them.
Assuming that you've written your book, had it edited and proofread, cover designed, you're ready to go. I'm only focusing here on Amazon, the biggest of the eBook market share.
1. Open an Amazon account.
2. Go to KDP Publishing and sign in with your account KDP Sign in
3. Complete information including banking info and tax information. I suggest you apply for an EIN (Employee Identification Number) from the IRS using the SS-4 Form , complete the form W8-BEN and send it to Amazon, Seattle attn Accounts Payable. Put the EIN number in the place provided along with banking info on your KDP account.
Attn: Accounts PayableAmazon Digital Services Attn: Vendor Maintenance PO Box 80683 Seattle, WA 98108-0683
4. When your book is completed, error and typo free, save as a PDF file, then convert this PDF file in Calibre to Mobi format. Make sure your manuscript has a TOC Table of Content
5. Go to your KDP Dashboard
6. Click Add New Title
7. Section 1 - Name of book, book description, add contributors IE, authors name, cover illustrator name etc., date published and ISBN if you have one.
8. Section 2 - Click this is NOT public domain. If it is public domain, click it but the most you can charge is $1.99 for the book and it cannot be in the prime select program.
9. Section 3 - You get to choose 2 categories. Go through the kindle store and have them pre-determined before you get to this point.
10. Section 4 - Upload your book cover. If the book cover has a lot of detail, I would convert it from jpeg to TIFF and upload the TIFF file.
11. Section 5 - Click DRM protection and upload your Mobi file.
12. After this is uploaded you can preview your book before saving and moving on to step 2 which is pricing.
13. Click all territories
14. Set your price and click use this price for all amazon markets.
15. Save and publish
16. It will take maybe 24 hours for it to go through Review, Publishing and then it will be live.
17. Log into your Author Central...very important to have an author page Author Central
18. Click books and then click add more books.
19. Type your book title and your name then search. Click this is my book once you find it.
20. Click on the book and start editing things like reviews, enhance your book description, add about the author, from the author etc.
21. Click profile - add your biography, a picture of yourself, your twitter link, blog link etc. This will take 24 hours to get approved.
22. Now you're ready to start pimping. Request reviews from people. Sign up to several Indie author sites. Below are the ones I use. I've signed up for many over the years and gave a lot of them up because I didn't find them useful. The sites below I can tell you from experience are useful:
AuthorsdB
Kindle Promo
Independent Author Network
Novel Rank
Kindle Boards
There are so many social media networks out there that if you sign up for all of them, you will spend all day long adding people, approving people, messages etc. I did not find Linekin or Wattpad any good but that's my opinion.
Twitter and Facebook Fan Page is a must. Link your twitter (in twitter settings) to post to and from Facebook. Then, when you make a post on your twitter for example, it shows up on your Facebook fan page and on your author page on Amazon.
Have a website, (approximately $10 per year). Link your posts on your website to Goodreads and Author Central. Whenever you post on your website, it also posts to your blog on Goodreads and your profile on your author page on Amazon.
Set up the same Author Central in the UK using your amazon user name and password. The UK market is huge. Canada doesn't have an author page as of yet. But UK does.
Believe me, this is the bare bones to get you started. There are many many other features and tips/tricks. If you'd like to pick my brain for a reasonable price, I'll be happy to assist you. I am also able to format and convert your file to Mobi, ePub and any other format. If you use Createspace to publish your paperback, that's an experience in itself. I've done it twelve times so for me it's pretty easy.
Happy writing, publishing and marketing.RJ
Assuming that you've written your book, had it edited and proofread, cover designed, you're ready to go. I'm only focusing here on Amazon, the biggest of the eBook market share.
1. Open an Amazon account.
2. Go to KDP Publishing and sign in with your account KDP Sign in
3. Complete information including banking info and tax information. I suggest you apply for an EIN (Employee Identification Number) from the IRS using the SS-4 Form , complete the form W8-BEN and send it to Amazon, Seattle attn Accounts Payable. Put the EIN number in the place provided along with banking info on your KDP account.
Attn: Accounts PayableAmazon Digital Services Attn: Vendor Maintenance PO Box 80683 Seattle, WA 98108-0683
4. When your book is completed, error and typo free, save as a PDF file, then convert this PDF file in Calibre to Mobi format. Make sure your manuscript has a TOC Table of Content
5. Go to your KDP Dashboard
6. Click Add New Title
7. Section 1 - Name of book, book description, add contributors IE, authors name, cover illustrator name etc., date published and ISBN if you have one.
8. Section 2 - Click this is NOT public domain. If it is public domain, click it but the most you can charge is $1.99 for the book and it cannot be in the prime select program.
9. Section 3 - You get to choose 2 categories. Go through the kindle store and have them pre-determined before you get to this point.
10. Section 4 - Upload your book cover. If the book cover has a lot of detail, I would convert it from jpeg to TIFF and upload the TIFF file.
11. Section 5 - Click DRM protection and upload your Mobi file.
12. After this is uploaded you can preview your book before saving and moving on to step 2 which is pricing.
13. Click all territories
14. Set your price and click use this price for all amazon markets.
15. Save and publish
16. It will take maybe 24 hours for it to go through Review, Publishing and then it will be live.
17. Log into your Author Central...very important to have an author page Author Central
18. Click books and then click add more books.
19. Type your book title and your name then search. Click this is my book once you find it.
20. Click on the book and start editing things like reviews, enhance your book description, add about the author, from the author etc.
21. Click profile - add your biography, a picture of yourself, your twitter link, blog link etc. This will take 24 hours to get approved.
22. Now you're ready to start pimping. Request reviews from people. Sign up to several Indie author sites. Below are the ones I use. I've signed up for many over the years and gave a lot of them up because I didn't find them useful. The sites below I can tell you from experience are useful:
AuthorsdB
Kindle Promo
Independent Author Network
Novel Rank
Kindle Boards
There are so many social media networks out there that if you sign up for all of them, you will spend all day long adding people, approving people, messages etc. I did not find Linekin or Wattpad any good but that's my opinion.
Twitter and Facebook Fan Page is a must. Link your twitter (in twitter settings) to post to and from Facebook. Then, when you make a post on your twitter for example, it shows up on your Facebook fan page and on your author page on Amazon.
Have a website, (approximately $10 per year). Link your posts on your website to Goodreads and Author Central. Whenever you post on your website, it also posts to your blog on Goodreads and your profile on your author page on Amazon.
Set up the same Author Central in the UK using your amazon user name and password. The UK market is huge. Canada doesn't have an author page as of yet. But UK does.
Believe me, this is the bare bones to get you started. There are many many other features and tips/tricks. If you'd like to pick my brain for a reasonable price, I'll be happy to assist you. I am also able to format and convert your file to Mobi, ePub and any other format. If you use Createspace to publish your paperback, that's an experience in itself. I've done it twelve times so for me it's pretty easy.
Happy writing, publishing and marketing.RJ
R.J. Parker's Blog
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