Konstanz Silverbow's Blog, page 34

New things coming next month! :)

A while back I closed my Writeaway blog. Not because I didn't love it, not because I didn't want it. Simply because life has gotten so hectic and there was no way I could run multiple blogs by myself.

I did promise to continue running certain features from that blog here. And it never happened. Again, not because I didn't love those features, not because I didn't want to. Simply because life got hectic.

Well good news!

Starting September 1st those features will be back!!!! You might wonder, why bring them back right before my book is published? Why add all that extra work? Well I now have a website.

This means that all announcements, news, updates, and major things related to MY books will be announced on my website. Yes, I will mention them here too. But I want this blog to continue what it was originally supposed to be . . . a place for me to share my thoughts, things I've learned, and anything else I can think of, all to help other authors!

And with my new website being a place solely for my books, it will make this possible!

Nothought2small Blogging Schedule: 
Monday: My Musings - Random thoughts and posts from meTuesday: Tricks of the Trade - Tips and tricks about mostly (but not limited to) marketing.Wednesday: Writing Tips - More than tips on writing, ways to rid yourself of doubt. Thursday: Tell it like it is - Fun facts about fun things that relate to the genres I write! Friday: Freedom to post whatever I feel like! Saturday: Writing RacesSunday: No posts. 
Super excited! And I am so looking forward to getting this blog back to what it was made to be! <3 

Only Half Alive Cover reveal SIGN UPS!

My debut novel, Only Half Alive, is coming out on September 27th! And that means there is a cover reveal happening next week, August 28th! :)

If you would like to sign up for it, please feel free to! It is very much appreciated! <3 <3 <3

How to sign up: In the comments leave your name, e-mail, and blog (and/or Facebook page) link!
OR you can e-mail me your information. My e-mail is: nothought2small(at)gmail(dot)com

Thank you!!! 

Insights (The Secret Watchers, Book Three) Cover Reveal!

Title: Insights (The Secret Watchers, Book Three) ~ Author: Lauren KleverGenre: Young Adult Fantasy Action and Adventure ~ Release Date: August 26, 2013Cover Reveal Host: Lady Amber's Tours


Synopsis One:

Owen Ryer thought he was normal.  He thought his life was boring.  A walk into a pawnshop in eighth grade showed him that his life was a lie.  Two years later Owen has accepted how far from normal he really is.  He has a special gift, granting him the ability to see dark energy in the objects around him.  Now he’s part of a secret society where people like himself help others and fight the dark watchers who want them for their powers.

Owen has discovered that a Secret Watcher does not have to live his life alone.  He knows that he can expand his powers by working with other watchers but what will the price be?  Darkness is growing and evil thinks it has found its new prince in Owen.  They will stop at nothing to get to him even if it means kidnapping, mind-control or murder.

Owen must do more than fight; he must use his wits and every ability he has at his disposal to hold the growing darkness at bay.  Who knew high school could be more challenging than football, homework and relationships?  The dark side knows… and they’re watching.



Lauren Klever is the author of the young adult series, The Secret Watchers.  She graduated from both Oregon State and Portland State University with degrees in education.  Lauren found writing to be just another way to reach her students.  She’s passionate about sharing her love of reading and writing with them.

The Pacific Northwest, with its vivid and varied panoramas is where Lauren makes her home.  When she’s not writing, she can be found working with students, reading, gardening or hiking around Mt. Hood, the Columbia River Gorge and the Oregon Coast.  Watch out for the lady with the camera, it may be Lauren scouting out the perfect shot for her next cover.

You can visit her at www.LaurenKleverAuthor.com

Links:

Author Website http://laurenkleverauthor.com/ ~  Series Website http://thesecretwatchers.com/

Facebook Author Page  http://facebook.com/authorLaurenKlever

Facebook Series Page  http://facebook.com/OwenRyerSeries

Twitter  http://twitter.com/LaurenKlever

Whispers on Barnes & Noble  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/whisp...

Visions on Barnes & Noble  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/visio...

Author Lauren Klever on Amazon  http://www.amazon.com/Lauren-Klever/e/

B00B143ESE/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1

Whispers on Amazon  http://www.amazon.com/Whispers-Secret...

Visions on Amazon  http://www.amazon.com/Visions-Secret-...

Goodreads  http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/...

Insights on YouTube  http://youtu.be/tY0WTZZ7x1Q

Whispers on YouTube   http://youtu.be/DUXZ6kIJIKA

Visions on YouTube   http://youtu.be/-iAEiW3wDYk

They say a picture is worth a thousand words . . . I have four of them for you.

In case you missed the announcements last week . . . plus some new ones! :) 

Yes, you read that correctly.
Put September 27th back on your calendars! *BIG SMILES*
Say hello to Jocelyn, my Personal Assistant and head of the Street team . 
You can join my Street team HERE! 
This will be my first event as a published author. This is your first chance to get signed copies of Only Half Alive on top of meeting a bunch of other authors! Check out the details HERE! 

Book tour: Visited ~ A Book Review

Title: Visited ~ Author: Janince Caldwell ~ Genre: YA Coming of Age, Fantasy Tour Host: Lady Amber's Tours



Book Description:

Seventeen-year-old Joanna Murphy has lost faith in her life. Vying for her mom’s attention, she’s resentful of her stepdad’s intrusion to their family. Her best friend, Tommy, has no clue she’s in love with him as he dates girl after girl without noticing how it tortures her. The final kicker, though, is God’s sick joke to make her freakishly tall when everyone knows boys prefer petite girls.

Then in a bizarre accident Joanna meets James, a breathtaking teen who appears to her after an unusual falling star sighting. Suddenly, her dream for an alien encounter becomes all too real. But when she finds her life has been made unrecognizable, she’s forced into an explosive study of the original design for her life that just may have her regretting every wish she ever made.

My Review: Be careful what you wish for . . . because you never know what you're going to get. That is exactly what happens to Joanna. And she learns a lot from her mistakes. This book teaches not only the main character, but the reader.

Janine is a fantastic author who has once again, created a story that pulls you right in and keeps you in place, reading until the book is over. Visited is a wonderful story that all teenagers should read!

Visited is a wonderful book and I look forward to Janine's next one! I absolutely loved how the characters grew, how you got to see each side of them, and I absolutely love the way things turned out in the end! <3




Author Bio:

Janine lives in Anthem, AZ with her husband and two sons. As a lifelong literature fanatic, she knew it was only a matter of time before she would become obsessed with writing her own work. With relatives like the Brothers Grimm and Anita Loos (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes), she figured fantasy writing had to be in her DNA.

Books published by Janine include Visited, a YA coming-of-age fantasy, Rematch and Double Fault—the first two books of The Vortex Series. The final book in this YA fantasy romance, Deuce, will be released fall 2013.

Author Links:

Blog/Web: www.janinecaldwell.com

Twitter: www.twitter.com/J9fiction

Facebook: www.facebook.com/AuthorJanineCaldwell

Buy Links

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Visited-ebook/d...

B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/visit...

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...

So much hate where there shouldn't be any . . .

Sunday, August 11th . . . I came across a blog post that authors were sharing. Not because it was a great blog post. But because it was a very nasty blog post that upset a lot of people. They were sharing so Indie Authors could defend themselves.

Will I tell you where to find the post? Nope. Not because I want to torture you and make you wonder. Not because I am being bitter towards it and therefore not sharing or spreading it's horribleness.

I am not sharing the blog post because honestly, I don't want to focus on the hate and negativity. I want to tell you something else. I want to tell you about the love and support, the encouragement to be found in the publishing world, as well as everywhere, in everything!

Let me start by saying this . . . When I read the blog post claiming Indie Authors suck, I was quite upset. The blogger ranted, swore, repeated the same words over and over and over, and was quite rude. S/he also had some good points. Like editing and writing about vampires . . . which you saw me blog about earlier this week.

The difference? I simply explained each matter in a truthful, professional, honest way. No hate, no negativity, no being rude for the sake of being rude.

Back to this other post . . . I was upset and quite honestly, I wanted to post a very long comment with my thoughts on their rudeness. But then I realized, A: They would most likely never read the comment. B: If they did, they would only laugh at it and move on, thereby learning nothing. And C: All I would be doing is hurting myself in the end. Because all it would have done is upset me more.

So instead I decided "Why not tell every author out there how awesome they are???" So that's what I am here to do.

You're an author? Awesome, listen up! Oh, you're not an author? That's okay, listen up.

You. Are. Awesome! You can succeed in ANYTHING you so desire to. And no one can stop you, except for you! So people have a thing against Indie Authors . . . oh well. No matter what you go into, someone, somewhere will have something against it.

But that is their problem, not yours.

You are awesome, no matter who you are, no matter where you, no matter what you're doing. You are awesome, loved, wanted, and someday you will find the place that makes you happiest, and you will love it. You will be happy and content. And? You will be so much better off than the person hiding behind an anonymous account, blogging about how much they think you suck.

Be happy, ignore the haters, follow your dreams! And don't let anyone tell you that they aren't worth following, that you aren't worth being what you want to be. Because they are wrong.

Before being published, every book should be edited . . .

So you wrote a book. And now you want to publish it . . . well whether it is being traditionally published or self-published, the truth is, it needs to see an editor. A real editor. Not your sister, not your mom, not your dad, not your grandma.

A professional editor who knows what to look for, what to fix, and what to leave just the way it is.

Does that mean that your book isn't an awesome story? Absolutely not!

Fun story:

One day an e-mail came in. It was from an author looking for a review. The book looked fantastic and I was beyond giddy, super excited to read it. As I got further and further into the book, I came upon more and more mistakes.
But I couldn't put the book down because it was a FANTASTIC story! LOVE it! Did I give it a bad rating? Did I bash it and say "Wow, super full of mistakes!"? Absolutely not! I kindly e-mailed the author (who was self-published) and said "Love the book, but . . . I think it would be tons better, and sell better, if an editor looked at it." I pointed out a few major mistakes and off the e-mail went.

I was terrified that this author would be upset with me. But they weren't! The reply that came was so happy I was honest! And they took my advice, had a professional edit done and voila! Epic book was re-published after being edited and becoming more epic!

Your story doesn't suck. Your book isn't horrible. And it isn't even as if you aren't a good editor. I don't know, you might be an awesome editor! But the problem is, as the writer, you aren't going to see the same mistakes as someone who isn't so close to the story.

When I wrote one of my books, I thought I had all the details in there. But a beta reader read it and said "Uhhh . . . what about (this)?" I looked at them was said "What about it?" They had to explain to me that it wasn't fully explained in the book. But I didn't see that because I knew what was supposed to be there.

Write an epic book, set it aside for a couple months, go back, re-write, revise, edit, send it to beta readers, edit again, revise as needed, and send it to an editor!

Just because you wrote about a vampire, doesn't mean you are trying to re-write Twilight.

I don't like Twilight. Not because I am jealous. Definitely not because it's a thing to NOT like Twilight. Trust me, I can give you at least 20 legitimate reasons as to why I genuinely dislike Twilight.  All that aside, I don't judge you, hate you, or even dislike YOU for liking it.

But that isn't the point. The point is . . . I wrote about a vampire. And guess what? It doesn't have anything to do with Twilight. Nothing, whatsoever. I wrote about a vampire because the character told me that's what he was. There, nothing I can do about it.

And I can promise you that I am not the only one who writers about Vampires . . . and ISN'T trying to copy Twilight.

Most assume this to be the case. Which is seriously sad. Because Vampires are actually very interesting! I mean, seriously! They are!

From Wikipedia: 
"Vampire literature covers the spectrum of literary work concerned principally with the subject of vampires. The literary vampire first appeared in 18th century poetry, before becoming one of the stock figures of gothic fiction with the publication of Polidori's The Vampyre  (1819), which was inspired by the life and legend of Lord Byron. Later influential works include the penny dreadful Varney the Vampire  (1847); Sheridan Le Fanu's tale of a lesbian vampire,  Carmilla  (1872) and the masterpiece of the genre: Bram Stoker's  Dracula  (1897).

In later years, vampire stories have diversified into areas of crime, fantasy, science fiction or even chick-lit. While fanged revenants are the norm, newer representations include aliens and even plants with vampiric abilities. Others feed on energy, rather than blood." 
*Clears throat* Twilight was published in 2005. Vampires have been around since the 18th Century. So I repeat, just because someone today writers about vampires, DOES NOT MEAN, they are copying, re-writing, or trying to re-create Twilight. 
Please, please, please, please, do NOT believe that if there is a vampire nearby, it has anything to do with Twilight! 

Indie . . . Traditional . . . It doesn't matter. No, what matters is that I am following my dream!

Originally I had planned on blogging about one of my author superheroes today. But upon finding a very harsh article going around, I felt that this matter was a bit more important today.
Without further ado . . . why I write.
Do I want to be a full time author, writing stories for a living? Absolutely. Do I want to be a New York Time’s Bestseller? Definitely. Do I dream about one day seeing my book – turned – movie on the big screen? Uhh. . . yeah! But is it why I write? Absolutely, positively, definitely, no!
I write because I dream of people that don’t exist. I have conversations with characters that only I know. And every time I think about them, I realize more and more how much I care about these characters. I realize, I want to know their stories.
Yes, I WANT TO KNOW their stories. THAT is why I write. I write because my imagination goes crazy with all the things that could be . . . and the only way for them to be, is to put them in stories.
I write because I love stories, I love make-believe. I love magic and fairies and dragons and evil sorcerers and damsels who can take care of themselves. I love stories that mean something. I love stories that teach me things nothing in the real world could.
I write because it is my escape. I write for the same reason some people golf, or go fishing. I write because it is what I LOVE DOING!
Not for money, not for fame, not for glory. I don’t write so I can be the girl who was nobody and then made it big! I am writing because I love to.
I decided to self-publish because it is what I felt was right. Not because I don’t want a traditional publisher, not because I am not good enough. Not because my stories aren't worth it. But because it is what was right for me. And you want to know WHY I was guided towards self-publishing?
Because it was the only way I was ever going to get the publisher I now have.
Believe it or not, if I had continued submitting my novel to major publishers, I would never have made it to where I am right now. And right now? I am happy with where this journey in writing has brought me.

I write because I love it, not for the glory, fame, and money, but for me. 
Don't let anyone tell you that you aren't good enough to be an author, especially because you are self-publishing. No one has the right to ruin your dreams. No one has the power to stop your dreams from coming true except for you! 




p.s I also believe there shouldn't be a gap between Traditional and Independent authors. Both are after the same dream. 

Kindle Fire Giveaway

   
Welcome to the Kindle Fire HD GiveawayHosted by Mom Loves 2 ReadCoHosted by LazyDay.CA Sponsored by MyPerfectGift.com!


MyPerfectGift.com helps you give (or get) the perfect gift by choosing and placing the things you like or love into your own personal wishlist!  You, your spouse, your kids can all make wishlists to share with family and friends or to keep track of all the wonderful things you'd love to have!

Wowza, does it get any better than that?!?!



Here is how you can be Eligible to Win~First ~ Sign up and create a registry and add at least 3 gifts to it - it's that easy!
{you can even sign-up with one click using your Facebook info}

If you already have a MyPerfectGift Registry just add a new gift to your existing wishlist.



One lucky winner will receive a Kindle Fire (US) or Paypal (Int)!!
A special thank you to my Co-Host:  LazyDay.CA 
Where you can find great reviews and giveaways 
you can find out more here:


Giveaway starts August 10th at 12:01am and ends August 31st at 11:59pm
 Kindle Fire HD prize available to US residents, ages 18+ 
~ International Residents are welcome to enter but will win Paypal cash (less fees) instead of the Kindle Fire prize.

To enter please use the GiveawayTools form below. Have FUN!

Entry-Form

Disclaimer: Disclosure: To be eligible to win this giveaway you must create an account and add at least three items in your registry. If you have an existing account add at least one new item to your registry.
 
Mom Loves 2 Read did receive compensation for this giveaway event, however my opinions are my own and may differ from yours. 
Nothought2small is not responsible for sponsor prize shipment.  If winner lives in US he/she will receive a Kindle Fire from the sponsor.  If winner is outside the US, he/she will receive Paypal Cash from the sponsor less any Paypal fees.  Prizes can take up to 8 weeks to arrive.  Void where prohibited.