Lynn Hallbrooks's Blog, page 15

Project Revealed

I've been saying for months that we've been working on a special project. Today, I am able to reveal it. First, I have to thank my friend, Mark Wilcox, for inspiring it. Originally, it was to be a Short Story to entice readers. However, as with everything that David and I start, it grew bigger and became a novella.

Yesterday, I mentioned that we had a contract for a graphic artist to do book one, Call Sign: Wrecking Crew (Storm Warning). Since Grindhouse Media took on that challenge, the decision was made to have the graphic artist do this project. Ms. Ellie Bockert Augsburger, owner of Creative Digital Studios, did a most excellent job. I feel compelled to mention that she had great ideas for Storm Warning. When asked to switch, she did so with ease, for this and many other reasons, I highly recommend her. In addition to cover art, she does graphic designs for businesses. She did a silhouette of an eagle similar to the one on Call Sign: Wrecking Crew (Wings of Eagles) for our business logo. 
  
One of our early thoughts for the book cover was to incorporate all the Special Forces' emblems. Ellie asked if Wrecking Crew had one, I asked David and he said why yes they do and it just so happens to match the one for our logo. Knowing this, you'll understand the centerpiece of the cover art.

The title of the novella is:

Genesis - Call Sign: Wrecking Crew Slice of Life

The reader comes into the Operations Center and is treated to the evening's festivities. As with any family gathering, someone says something that irritates another. Eventually the group goes down memory lane and the reader learns more about how the Wrecking Crew was formed as well as glimpses into their personal lives. 

Have I piqued your interest?  If so, you can find the eBook exclusively on Amazon Kindle. Print book is due out hopefully later this week. 

Available exclusively on Amazon 


I also want to mention that I was inspired by Chris Almeida and Cecilia Aubrey's Bytes of Life series. It is my dream that we come up with more Slice of Life stories to share with our readers. 

By the way, remember I mentioned an upcoming book signing? I'll fill you in more on that as I firm up the details. I can tell you this much, all three books will be available to be personally autographed and purchased. 

Have a great one,

Lynn Hallbrooks
Author/Owner
David McKoy
Author/Owner
Call Sign Wrecking Crew, LLC

Realization of a Dream

Have you ever felt like you needed something but weren't quite sure what it was. You go on with your day but it keeps working at you from the back of your brain. Gradually it works its way to the surface, then you go, "Aha! That's what it was I wanted".  That's how it was with me and the book cover for Call Sign: Wrecking Crew (Storm Warning). Dick Black (someone I know and love) and I tried to put something together on Adobe Illustrator.  The result was our first cover art.Dick Black and Lynn
C.W. Johnson After a couple of months, some kind-hearted people pointed out the error of my ways. C.W. Johnson was kind enough to put something better together for us. That one remained the cover art for almost three years. 
The latter part of 2013, the niggling feeling that I'd been having final came forward. The cover art for the print book was not working for us, it was working against us.Trade Soft cover
I started talking to David about this. I knew we didn't really have the money but the adage, 'it takes money to make money' came out of my mouth. I know David works really hard to support our business, he always has, so I didn't really push the idea full force. 
Around Christmas time, David gets a book that changed his life, I Declare... by Joel Osteen. One day, reading that book, he got a God Vision. In it, he was told that our book would get in to a prominent person's hands. About that same time, I saw a message from a moderator on Goodreads for an up and coming graphic artist.  I got some cost estimates from her and told David. He said go ahead and get the contract started. While we were waiting for our corporate lawyer to review the contracts, I see an opportunity for a book signing nearby. The catch was there were only two tables left. I inquired and sure enough there was a table left so I grabbed it. When I told David what I had done, he wasn't mad, he was actually happy, that's when he told me about his vision.
Meantime, we are still waiting on corporate lawyer, who was really busy. David's friend heard about our dilemma and offered a solution. He read the contract for us, then he asked what we envisioned for it. We told him. He knew a guy who was able to put our vision or as I call it our dream into reality. The result being our latest book cover by Grindhouse Media.Latest by Grindhouse Media
As usual, there are technical glitches which we hope to have resolved soon but I thought I'd share our new cover art with you, today. Tomorrow, I'll share the other part of this dream.
Until then, have a great one!
Lynn HallbrooksOwner/AuthorDavid McKoyOwner/Author 

Helping Debut Author help Aspiring Authors

Click here to see this book on Amazon Deena Rae Schoenfeldt has been a friend to authors for many years.  She has helped many an author format their eBooks with her own brand of magic. In her debut book, Navigating the World of E-Book Publishing, she tells about her beginnings and the things she has learned along the way. 

She gives sage advice which can be appropriate not only for the aspiring author - set to take the writing world by storm - but also for those of us who have published before.  

Please don't skip the introduction - that's where you'll get to know a little about her and how she came to write this book. As an added bonus you'll get to see some of her magic in action. 



Here's more about Deena in her own words. 

E-BookBuilders is my online alias. I was born and raised in Texas — home of bluebonnets, boots, beef and big hair — into a family that was in the printing and publishing industries. My father was a computer programmer for major newspapers when the equipment took up whole rooms and my mother has been a publisher for almost 30 years — trying, unsuccessfully, to bring me into the family business. I have been told I am a second-generation genetically perfected super-nerd.http://www.e-bookbuilders.com/ I was happily living my life, having three genetically perfected super-nerds myself, but then through a series of events (unfortunate and fortunate), I officially joined The Book Connection — my mother’s publishing and packaging company — as the Digital Director, to create the e-publishing division in 2011. My computer skills, willingness to help authors, love of literature, no-nonsense attitude and quick wit has helped shepherd many authors through the maze of digital publishing.
Through my work with E-BookBuilders, I have been able to meet authors and writers from all over the world and in every genre imaginable. My wit, obscure sense of humor, awareness of the absurd, and a love of literature all which led to the creation of Bluebonnets, Bagpipes and Books, the NSFW publishing discussion podcast I produce and host with Janet Wrenn and Peter Burnett. My no-nonsense attitude makes for some hilarious discussions and plenty of “Oh my God, did she really just say that?” moments. Sometimes it is as if there is no filter between my brain and mouth. But if I like you I try to be nice – sometimes. I also have a safe-for-everyone author interview show, B3‘s Bookworm. You can find me most hours of everyday attached to my computer either researching, tweeting on the 6 accounts I maintain, posting on my different Facebook timelines and pages, coding e-books for my fabulous friends/clients or with my nose buried in my Kindle reading.
By the way, I was privy to a version of this book prior to it being finalized.  I'm looking forward to seeing how it all came together. If you are wondering what happened to that podcast with Deena Rae in December, well let's just say we are going to try for third time's the charm. Hope y'all are having a great one!Lynn Hallbrooksco-author to David McKoyco-owner of Call Sign Wrecking Crew, LLC

Connections and Timing

The other night, I got on to Facebook to share a limited time offer with a friend.  That moment I took to help one friend gave me an opportunity to help and support other author friends, including Josh Cook. For those that don't know, Josh helps run the Free Book Dude website.  This site sponsors many GiveAways and this month our books are among them. It is simple to enter to win book packages, just log into Facebook and follow Josh's gameplan: a Rafflecopter giveaway Rafflecopter - Giveaway :) www.rafflecopter.com

"Bestsellers"

Lynn Hallbrooks
co-owner of Call Sign Wrecking Crew LLC with David McKoy
co-author of Call Sign: Wrecking Crew series with David McKoy
author of Many Is the Dream 

You can find our books available for sale on any of our websites: 
http://www.callsignwreckingcrew.com http://cswcwingsofeagles.homestead.com/ http://lynnhallbrooks.homestead.com/

Latest Lessons I've learned

First lesson be sure to mention your co-author at every opportunity especially when doing your social media profiles. They tend to get quite testy. It doesn't matter that the blasted thing wouldn't let me say I'm a co-author or co-owner in the drop down menu.  Hey, I was still learning the ropes when I did LinkedIn... it never registered that they changed and that the profiles could be edited.  Kind of busy doing other things here. Issue now resolved.  David hasn't learned much about computers but he is learning how to work his phone. 

For those that don't know, David and computers do not get along.  He feels they are only good for target practice - C4 on them can't hurt either. On the other hand his spouse has a computer.  Now the plan when I was down in Houston doing the book signing, was for me to borrow his wife's computer... no joy. The Internet stopped working - or maybe it was Mr. Murphy doing his best to get in the way.  It slowed me down but did not stop me.  A FedEx  Kinko's store was not far away and that's how I accessed the Internet but really quickly -they are pretty proud of their per minute usage rates. Office Depot was a big help with the stand-up poster for the book signing too.  The real kick to the rear-end was trying to do a Podcast with Deena Rae.  We had it set-up for the Wednesday before Thanksgiving via Talk Shoe since I wasn't sure about doing Skype on someone else's computer... not that I actually had access to Skype there as it turns out.  We dialed the number - input the required information.  No Deena for over a half hour.  Turns out Talk Shoe failed to tell her we were even there. 
So we rescheduled the Podcast for 18 December 2013. I got Skype on my computer. I found a microphone. The plan was to put David on speakerphone. "Best laid plans of Mice and Men..." - Deena couldn't hear him at all. I could barely hear him. So I did my best to relay questions. The problem is/was I'm not Deb nor am I, Larry (Call Sign Wrecking Crew characters). I had my hands full with hearing Deena's questions and answering them. My tongue kept getting twisted. To top it off, my speakers were making everything tinny and she was getting reverberation on her end.  Deena assures me that she will work on the sound side of things. The podcast will be posted on Bluebonnets, Bagpipes & Books  in the near future, so be looking out for it or you can just 'follow' via email.  Deena has also been working on a book for aspiring authors, so be watching for my future posts on that as well. 

CSWC Wings of Eagles As many of you know, we published book 2, Call Sign: Wrecking Crew (Wings of Eagles) in late September. We sold some books at our book signings.  Some were given as gifts.  All were autographed... so imagine my surprise when I discovered our books being sold as used on Amazon.  I couldn't and still can't see anyone who purchased books directly from us selling them used. Only one online print book purchase was registering. I knew who purchased that one.  So I queried Amazon. They basically referred me back to Create Space who assured me that no pirating was going on.  After talking to members of my inner circle it was decided that this might just be a marketing ploy.  They act like an outlet mall. Apparently some people don't pay attention to the retail price... they just presume if it is used it is marked at a lower price.  Buyer beware on that. I've also been assured that books sold through any of the Amazon Marketplace vendors should result in royalties for us.  I certainly hope so because they just don't know how the "Wrecking Crew" rolls. The results are not pretty. 

My advice to everyone reading this - monitor the books being sold and their prices. Find out what the list price is... then go from there. Used does not necessarily mean cheaper. Authors monitor your Create Space channels for royalty payments. 

Lynn Hallbrooks
co-author to David McKoy
co-owners of Call Sign Wrecking Crew, LLC
http://www.callsignwreckingcrew.com http://cswcwingsofeagles.homestead.com/
http://lynnhallbrooks.homestead.com/

Veterans Day Weekend

For those who are not in the know, David McKoy and I are both veterans of the United States Military.  We both go to the VA Medical Centers near us. Not only that our main characters are all veterans from different branches of the service. We support military and veteran causes, as much as we are able. So in honor of Veterans' Day (and the other multi-holidays coming up) we have placed Call Sign: Wrecking Crew (Storm Warning) on sale for 99 cents. I cannot guarantee that all the locations we are selling it on have changed over. 
Also this month, I am going to Houston to meet up with David to go over book 3, tentatively named Call Sign: Wrecking Crew (Scimitar Brotherhood) and hopefully for a book signing event. Since we never really had a book launch for Call Sign: Wrecking Crew (Wings of Eagles)  we decided to do a Rafflecopter for a $25 Amazon gift certificate.
A quick anecdote: 
David: Got a business call today.
Me: Yes?
David: They wanted concrete right away.
Me: Really?
David: Yes, I told them we are novelist. They said, "What?" I told them that we write books. "Oh" Click. 
Me: *Laughing out loud* We'll we do kind of sound like a construction crew. I keep telling Manta that we aren't. 
David: *Heavy Sigh* Just thought you'd like to know.
Me: I did but I still think it's funny.
Hope you enjoy visiting our sites and have a Happy Veterans' Day Weekend. Rafflecopter will begin midnight U.S. Central time on 11/8/13 until 11/12/13 midnight. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Lynn Hallbrooksco-author to David McKoyco-owner of Call Sign Wrecking Crew, LLC

My First Book Signing

Welcome to IVD 2013My first book signing was an awesome experience because of the people that were with me at the Indie-Vengeance Day event and the people I met. 





Hearty Breakfast with Justin
The day started with a group of us gathering at IHOP. I met people face to face whom I had been chatting online with via Facebook and/or twitter for the past couple years. Yes folks, there are real people behind those avatars and they do eat. By the time everyone arrived we were stretched from the far wall to the door to the back room. After our hearty breakfast and paying our bills we got in our vehicles and headed to Half-Priced Books up the road and over a piece. 


Lynn and Tracy comparing notes Amber: Sign this please.That store is about a city block wide and half again deep. I kid you not. I had 4 boxes of books plus other things I thought I would need. I carried in one box and saw some of the other authors using shopping carts. Oh yeah, why didn't I think of that. I get in the room and my good friend Tracy James Jones already had our table staked out.  Up on stage like the Divas we'd like to be. Just kidding - honestly it is the first place she saw to put the books but it worked well.  I could look over the group and see their smiling faces. I also helped direct traffic when I wasn't busy signing something.


Lynn, Tracy, and CharityWe had lots of folks milling around. Some would come in just to see what the heck was going on. Others were looking for a particular genre, I had the honor of pointing them in the right direction. Some came to cheer us on - thanks family and friends. Some picked our brains like Jackie Smith, debut author. Somewhere in the middle I benefited from the collective knowledge of an established author who was like the Lone Ranger - he helped out but I didn't know who he was under that mask. Seriously, Tracy and Charity knew him and that was good enough for me. 


Lynn, Sreya, and Tracy James, Lynn, and TracyAfter the crowd thinned out we had time to take some pictures with each other. While we're on that subject, I'd like to say a Texas sized thanks to my fellow authors for allowing me to share their pictures with you. Maybe some day my camera will decide to let go of the pictures it is holding captive. Unfortunately, with so many authors, only so many cameras, and so little time, I didn't get to talk to or get pictures with everyone. That's okay, I have my memories aided by their shared pictures. This was a day that will live forever in my heart along with my new author family.My author family from around the globe and my heart
While I plan on doing more book signings, I doubt there will ever be one that tops this one. 
Thanks again Amber and Scott for allowing me to join in with y'all. Huge thanks to Half Priced Books for providing the portal to knowledge and fun.
Have a great one!
Lynn Hallbrooks

My Two Cents Worth

My plan for today was to check email then do some reviews. I know I'm backlogged on those and I apologize to those awaiting mine. Your further patience is requested while I get this overwhelming thought out of my head. 

Many of you know that the Call Sign: Wrecking Crew series is political and military. Those are David McKoy's areas of expertise and as a rule I don't talk much about politics. Mostly because I don't know enough about the subject.  I do know about the effects it has had on me and people that I interact with. 

In the email this morning was an article sent out by military.com that talks about veterans et al that won't be receiving their benefit checks come November 1, 2013. You say well I'm not a veteran or survivor how does that affect me? Simple, veterans et al are consumers and bill payers. For some the VA check is their only source of income. For me, it is the only source of income save for what is earned through book sales... which actually goes into the company. From my direct deposit account, I also get money direct debited for life insurance. Now I won't be able to pay them. If enough people can't pay their bills then those companies won't be able to pay their debts...including their employees. Those employees can't pay their bills then how in the world is anyone going to have money for luxuries like books. I know some feel that books are a necessity but not everyone does. If this cycle keeps going then we will have NO economy and NO government to bail us out or pay us benefits. Then what? 

So authors and publishers, if your sales have dropped or are non-existent this might be your answer.  

What can we do? Other than let our Representatives in Washington know how we feel and if they don't listen get rid of them...not much. 

That's my two cents worth. I'm getting off my soap box. By the way, I have contacted my Representative and given him my two cents worth. 

Have a great one!

Lynn Hallbrooks
co-owner of Call Sign Wrecking Crew, LLC

Update: After I finished and posted this, I noticed that the gridlock is temporarily resolved. However, the basic premise I outlined above is still true and possible. Thanks for taking the time to read this. 

Indie Vengeance Day

I'll begin this post with gratitude. I appreciate the hard work of all the authors featured below. I especially want to thank
I will be sharing the stage with my fellow authors. Some well known to me and others I hope to get to know over time.  Together we will be signing our books for those individuals who are willing to come to Half Price Books Flagship store in Dallas, Texas. I look forward to this event with high hopes of meeting readers as well as my fellow authors from across the globe. 
We (authors) will have a limited amount of space so all available books will be sold for Cash only on a first come -first serve basis. If you wish to attend and haven't done so then please register today.
Below is a list of authors (in no particular order), where they hang their hat, and what book(s) they plan to bring. If you'd like to know more about these authors then check out Tracy James Jones blog starting on 1 October 2013. 
~ Indie-Vengeance Day ~Featured Authors c/o International Indie Author Book Signing Event(October 12, 2013 – Half Price Books - Dallas Texas)
Ciara Ballintyne (Sydney, Australia) - “Confronting the Demon” (fantasy)
Julie Frayn (Alberta, Canada)   - “Suicide City, A Love Story” (contemporary)
Dionne Lister (Sydney, Australia) - “The Circle of Talia Series” (fantasy)
Susie Clevenger (Houston, Texas) - “Dirt Road Dreams” (poetry)
Melissa Craig (Cairns, Australia) – “Simply Breathtaking Series” (erotica)
M. A. Rogers (San Antonio, Texas) - “ Just Another Zombie Love Story: Chivalry is Undead” (zombies)
Ben Ditmars (Marion, Ohio) – “Night Poems” (poetry)

(Dallas, Texas) - "Six-hundred-Twenty-Nine Miles To Sanity” (poetry)
Charity Parkerson (Murfreesboro, Tennessee) – “The Undefeated Series”- (sports & romance)
James Peercy (Denison, Texas) – “Without A Conscious” (thriller/mystery) "The Wall Outside" (Fantasy)Justin Bog (Anacortes, Washington) – “Sandcastles & Other Stories” (collection)
M.E. Franco(Stockton, California) – “The Dion Series” (paranormal)
Scott Morgan (Dallas, Texas) – “Character Development from the Inside Out” (non-fiction – educational)
Lynn Hallbrooks (Collinsville, Texas) – “Call Sign: Wrecking Crew” Series(political intrigue/military)
Sreya Bremtin (Dallas, Texas) - “ From A Season Of Sleep”  – (poetry)
Tracy James Jones (Waxahachie, Texas) – “Secrets & Lies” (romantic drama)

Melissa Zaroski (Bloomingdale, Illinois) - “Davenport Manor: Family Secrets” Series (paranormal)
Hope you can join us and have a great one!
Lynn Hallbrooks

Being An Author Isn't For the Faint-hearted

Alvin from Chip-wrecked Is it me or does everyone expect to be an instant success at this self-publishing independent authoring thing. I've been doing it for the last couple years and I can honestly tell you it is not for the faint-hearted. It takes discipline and the courage to keep at it each and every day. There is no baby crying allowed. You don't like how the words fall together then change them. Stop worrying about what others think. If you know in your heart it is the best you can do to capture what your characters are trying to tell you then listen to them. Sure they may try to steer you into a whole new direction... let them. Unless they are like Alvin of the Chipmunks then maybe you need to keep a watchful eye and re-direct them from time to time. 

I'm not saying don't let others view your work and make suggestions. I'm saying that if you have a legitimate reason for what you are doing then let it stand. Take the lumps if they come but don't compromise the big picture. 

Once you have the book written, proofread, formatted for different versions, and published it, you can't stop there. You have to take it to places where it can be seen. I recently discovered Bublish as a new way for readers and authors to connect. It is definitely different. As usual, I had a bit of trouble... you see they currently only take e-pub files. I figured out a solution to my problem.  I remembered I have our book on Smashwords premium. So I downloaded our books as an e-pub and then went to the download section of my computer when it was time to attach them. 

Don't forget about Goodreads. Once upon a time, I think the books actually drifted over from Amazon but that wasn't the case with our two latest books. So I had to enter them manually. Most important thing to have here is an ISBN. That's where Smashwords was most helpful. When I published our books there I requested a free ISBN. Simple now when I need to find our ISBN for other things, I  go to the ISBN manager from our Dashboard. 

I'm still in the process of getting all our books out there to be seen. I also put together a website for Call Sign: Wrecking Crew (Wings of Eagles) and one for myself to feature all of our books, current and future. I even created a new Facebook fan page. I will also be at a book signing event with several of my fellow indie authors. So be looking out for the details on that.

Have a great one!

Lynn Hallbrooks
co-author to the Call Sign: Wrecking Crew series with David McKoy.
co-owner of Call Sign: Wrecking Crew LLC